The Securities and Exchange Commission granted Investree Philippines Inc.―a joint venture of Filinvest Development Corp. and Investree Singapore Pte. Ltd.―a permanent license to operate as a crowdfunding platform.
It approved IPI’s application for a permanent license to operate as a funding portal and act as a crowdfunding intermediary, following a review of the company’s operations since the issuance of its provisional license on Jan. 7, 2021.
Crowdfunding is a fundraising activity typically conducted through an online platform for startups and small and medium enterprises.
IPI is the first crowdfunding intermediary and funding portal registered with the SEC after the rules and regulations covering crowdfunding took effect in July 2019.
The company operates a lending-based crowdfunding platform whose crowdfunding activities involve banks or qualified buyers as lenders, and small, medium and emerging enterprises as borrowers.
Investree Philippines’ crowdfunding portal had 43 issuers and one investor with 110 notes issued for a total amount of P172.15 million as of Dec. 20, 2021,
The company had three investors during the same period, including Investree Singapore, Andremere Holding Corp. and Netbank (A Rural Bank) Inc.
The grant of the permanent license is part of the SEC’s efforts to promote crowdfunding as a suitable investment among Filipino investors and to provide more fundraising options for SMEs.
Crowdfunding involves three parties: the entrepreneur or project initiator; the supporters or those willing to fund the business idea or project; and the platform or moderating organization that brings the entrepreneur and supporters together to realize the business idea or project.
Lending-based and equity-based crowdfunding activities involve the offer of securities in the form of debentures or shares, which means that they are subject to securities regulation in many jurisdictions.