As we continue to look at many of our Founder Institute graduates, we now look to the Philippines where you're also seeing a startup frenzy. The Philippines is now the second-fastest growing economy in all of Asia, which is a huge jump from just a few years ago. In Manila alone, you're seeing exciting tech startups that plan to become more prominently known within the next decade.
One that recently graduated from our Manila Founder Institute is a company called Acudeen. Not long ago, they experienced a watershed moment in forwarding their growth. This occurred when they won the $500,000 grand prize at Seedstars World 2017, beating out fourteen other competitors.
As a Fintech company, Acudeen is a service that helps startups easier acquire bank capital. Its founder and CEO, Magellan Fetalino III, ignited his mission to help fellow Philippine businesses by providing a way to obtain money for managing operations.
Many banks in Asia don't make it easy for startups to obtain money for loans, or to pay for expenses. What's worse is a Philippine law requiring all startups to have a three-year operating threshold before they can receive financing.
How will Fetalino's Acudeen help this problem? Think of it as a new financial middleman for startups.
Paying Invoices to Keep Startups Going
Acudeen works by linking up with accounting software used in small and medium businesses. With this peer-to-peer access, the software validates all invoices of suppliers. By supplying money for the business, these suppliers can get paid within a few days, eliminating the problem of late payments.
Thanks to this simple procedure, businesses in The Philippines can stay afloat without worry about going into debt due to late customer payments.
This all works from an investor side as well to bring in funds. After setting up an account, investors can bid on invoices from businesses. Once invoices become settled, the invested amount and any returns go into the investor's digital wallet.
Mario Jordan "Magellan" Fetalino III's Background
As you can see from Fetalino's nickname, he's been quite the explorer when it comes to helping and working in business. He understands the core of business management and strategies based on his past experience.
Take a look at his LinkedIn page and you'll see what he's already done to earn his clout. He was Vice President for Digital Communications of the international medical publication, Medical Observer. Later, he worked in International Business Development for the Illustrados Business Consultancy Group in Hong Kong.
His financial experience includes becoming Chairman of the Board at Global Filipino Investors.
Training at our Founder Institute helped shape his ideas and Acudeen's business mission. Now that Acudeen is just a little over a year old, what kind of future does it have in the Asian business market and globally?
Current Funding and Company Future
Fetalino's concept is already fail-safe, and it's bringing money in for their clients, as well as for the company. By buying their client invoices at a discount of 2% per month, profit for Acudeen is substantial. They've received some substantial grants over the last year, helping them push ahead to their goal to reach more suppliers and small businesses throughout Asia.
Forbes reported on the company being approached by the International Finance Corporation to gain access to more micro businesses in the Asian market. Fetalino's Acudeen is another major startup example where new business capital concepts help small businesses throughout the Asian region.
Despite similar services available (including BlueVine here in the U.S.), Acudeen intends to focus on under-served areas like Thailand and Vietnam.
As Fetalino himself says:
We're literally providing financial inclusion in the business community in the Philippines."
This promise might become international eventually. It's going to help deserving startups successfully forward ideas like Acudeen that continue to literally change the world.
