SINGAPORE, 22 June 2022 – Helicap, one of the first FinTech private investment platforms specialising in the alternative lending space in Southeast Asia (SEA), has raised USD 5 million in a strategic funding round from two global asset management powerhouses. The round was led by Temasek-backed international alternative asset management group Tikehau Capital, and integrated Asian financial house PhillipCapital, each with over USD 35 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).
The new capital will enable Helicap as a group to achieve its goal of democratising access to private markets and becoming the dominant digital private investment platform in Southeast Asia. Mr. Jean-Baptiste Feat, Global Co-CIO of Tikehau Capital and Ms. Grace Tang, Executive Director at Phillip Private Equity, will join Helicap’s advisory team, lending their expertise and network to Helicap’s founders and the broader team.
Helicap group CEO David Z Wang described the new fundraise as a key milestone for his management team and a vote of confidence from institutional asset managers. “At Helicap, our vision has always been to provide liquidity to alternative lenders with the mission of enabling financial access for millions of underbanked MSMEs,” Mr. Wang said. He added, “Over the coming months, we will be expanding our suite of data-driven products and services to establish Helicap as the go-to private financing arranger in SEA. We will continue to democratise access to private investments through a data-driven FinTech investment platform that prioritises risk management.”
Private credit can offer stability and diversification in an inflationary environment
With the global economic landscape expected to face higher and broader inflation in 2022, and public markets witnessing a correction since the beginning of the year, private markets can present a portfolio diversification opportunity for investors. Private debt markets have shown a low correlation to public markets and can provide consistent risk-adjusted returns when robust risk management frameworks are applied. Helicap provides curated access into the private placements space in SEA while financially enabling underbanked individuals and enterprises across the region.
Helicap’s flagship private debt fund recently raised USD 10 million from a regional bank-backed asset management firm, making it the fund’s largest single investor. The asset manager, which has approximately USD 20 billion in AUM, is looking at doubling its commitment to Helicap’s fund product.
“We recognise that risk management is of the utmost importance with every investment we make,” said Quentin Vanoekel, CIO of Helicap Investments and co-founder at Helicap. “With our tried and tested technology, we can make swift yet informed decisions on where to deploy our investments and the terms of these placements.”
Mr. Vanoekel added, “Against the backdrop of challenging global market conditions, the investment from Tikehau Capital and PhillipCapital is a testimony to Helicap’s institutional-grade execution capabilities and a mandate to capture the growth prospects of private investment opportunities in the region.”
On the rationale behind investing in Helicap, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Feat of Tikehau Capital said, “As alternative asset management and private credit investment specialists ourselves, we firmly believe in Helicap’s compelling value proposition. Helicap’s philosophy is very much in line with ours, and their data-driven risk management framework is very effective in this regard.” Mr. Feat added, “Our primary goal at Tikehau Capital is to create long-term value for our clients and shareholders. This investment in Helicap from our own balance sheet demonstrates our long view for the alternative financing industry in Southeast Asia and our backing of a team that will shape this growing space.”
Ms. Grace Tang, Executive Director of Phillip Private Equity, a member company of PhillipCapital Group said, “As alternative financing models emerge, it is essential to identify companies that can deliver financial services to the underbanked in Asia. At Phillip Private Equity, we have been impressed by Helicap's leadership team and their ability to build a successful and resilient business model over the past few years despite the volatility presented by the pandemic.”
Since its founding, Helicap as a group has arranged US$150 million in volume in over 300 completed deals, working closely with leading alternative lending platforms and presenting investors with positive returns throughout. To achieve this consistent performance, Helicap has developed a proprietary technology that can crunch millions of loan data points to evaluate the creditworthiness of more than 500 digital lenders and businesses across SEA and Oceania.
Adrian Tan, a Singapore-based Director of a global investment bank and an early investor with Helicap said, “As a registered client on the Helicap platform, I am most compelled by the professionalism and rigour of the team – it’s been a great experience.“ He added, “I have real-time access to my investment portfolio, and I have been delighted with the performance of my assets that I have deployed through Helicap, even throughout the pandemic.”
Helpful Links:
Helicap closes Series A Press Release
The Heli-Pad: A blog by Helicap
Read more about Helicap’s Proprietary Technology
About Helicap
Helicap is a Singapore-based FinTech firm connecting global investors to private investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. The company’s goal is to fill a $500 billion financing gap that banks are unable to serve and deploy capital to 300 million underbanked through 1,000 originators in the region. The company’s equity backers include Japanese financial services firm Credit Saison, Temasek-backed alternative investments firm Tikehau Capital, integrated Asian financial house PhillipCapital, as well as top VC firms East Ventures, Access Ventures, Voveo Capital, and leading Singapore property group Soilbuild Group Holdings. For more information, visit www.helicap.com.
About Tikehau Capital
Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with €35.5 billion of assets under management (as of 31 March 2022). Tikehau Capital has developed a wide range of expertise across four asset classes (private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) as well as multi-asset and special opportunities strategies. Tikehau Capital is a founder-led team with a distinctive business model, a strong balance sheet, proprietary global deal flow and a track record of backing high-quality companies and executives. Deeply rooted in the real economy, Tikehau Capital provides bespoke and innovative alternative financing solutions to the companies it invests in and seeks to create long-term value for its investors while generating positive impacts on society. The Group leverages its strong equity base (€3 billion of equity as of 31 December 2021), investing its own capital alongside that of its investor-clients within each of its strategies. Controlled by its managers alongside leading institutional partners, Tikehau Capital is guided by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and DNA, shared by its 723 employees (as of 31 March 2022) across its 13 offices in Europe, Asia and North America. Tikehau Capital is listed in compartment A of the Euronext Paris regulated market (ISIN: FR0013230612; Ticker: TKO.FP). For more information, please visit www.tikehaucapital.com.
About PhillipCapital
Since its inception as a stockbroker in 1975, PhillipCapital has grown into an integrated Asian financial house with a global presence and offers a full range of quality and innovative services to retail and high-net-worth individuals, family offices, as well as corporate and institutional customers. PhillipCapital offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services including broking in securities, futures, foreign exchange, bonds, precious metals and commodities, unit trusts, contracts for difference, exchange-traded funds; fund management, managed accounts, insurance planning, regular savings plan, investment research, equity financing and property consultancy. Institutions can also benefit from our corporate finance and advisory services as well as information technology solutions. Today, the company headquartered in Singapore operates in the financial hubs of 15 countries, including offices in Australia, Cambodia, China (and Hong Kong SAR), India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UK, UAE, USA and Vietnam, serving over 1 million clients with Assets Under Management of total more than USD 35 billion. Find out more information, please visit www.phillip.com.sg.
Investment involves risk. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance or returns. The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, and you may not get the full amount you invested. Rates of exchange may cause the value of investments to go up or down.
Any forward-looking statements, prediction, projection or forecast on the economy, stock market, bond market or economic trends of the markets contained in this material are subject to market influences and contingent upon matters outside the control of Helicap Pte. Ltd. (“Helicap”) and therefore may not be realised in the future. Further, any opinion or estimate is made on a general basis and subject to change without notice. In presenting the information above, none of Helicap, its affiliates, directors, employees, representatives or agents have given any consideration to, nor have made any investigation of the objective, financial situation or particular need of any user, reader, any specific person or group of persons. Therefore, no representation is made as to the completeness and adequacy of the information to make an informed decision. You should carefully consider (i) whether any investment views and products/ services are appropriate in view of your investment experience, objectives, financial resources and relevant circumstances. You may also wish to seek financial advice through a financial advisor or and independent legal, accounting, regulatory or tax advice, as appropriate.
