ApexPeak, a capital provider for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is now raising a $200 million fund to give small businesses an alternative to banks.
According to Kresten Buch, founder and investor in 88mph, which invested in the ApexPeak 12 months ago, the initiative will allow SMEs with invoices to large blue-chips to sell their invoices via ApexPeak's Global Receivables fund.
"The business scales well by using superior credit rating data and integration with the suppliers of invoices. The invoices are also secured by insurance companies, making the transaction substantially less risky," says Buch.
He explains that ApexPeak also offers investors an opportunity to achieve above market return on investment (ROI) on short-term loans, due to its efficient tech platform to deploy this capital. The $200 million fund is being established to ensure more reliable liquidity for hundreds of SMEs, enabling them, in turn, to grow and create wealth and jobs.
"Other start-ups are looking to solve this pain point," he says. "However, being positioned in emerging markets, where businesses are growing faster and short-term lending rates reaching above 15%, makes ApexPeak well-positioned to grab the market opportunity better than in the stagnating and over-leveraged developed economies."
Buch points out that 88mph's goal is to try to generate a ROI that will make European and US accelerators look like African non-profits, adding that ApexPeak will help put this on track.
88mph invested in the idea and gave it $40 000 in cash investment on 1February 2013. Since then, ApexPeak has closed two follow-on rounds totalling $1.8 million from Asian investors.
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