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Beehive will facilitate business loans to creditworthy SMEs looking to expand operations
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EDB has pledged to support SMEs, startups and large corporates in five priority sectors
Emirates Development Bank has signed an agreement with peer-to-peer platform Beehive to expand funding options for the small and medium-sized enterprises, it announced on Sunday, June 20, said local reports.
The state-owned lender plans to disburse funding to the tune of AED30 million ($8.17 million) to qualifying businesses through the UAE’s first P2P platform, said the reports.
Beehive, in turn, will facilitate business loans to creditworthy SMEs looking to expand operations or improve working capital.
The announcement follows EDB’s strategic pledge to support SMEs, startups and large corporates across five priority sectors — manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure, food security, and technology — over the next five years.
The funds disbursed through the EDB-Beehive partnership may have the potential to support hundreds of SMEs in the region.
The EDB strategy reportedly aims to help SMEs access finance and grow their business, which should boost their contribution to UAE’s non-oil GDP to over 70% by 2021, besides enhancing in-country value, productivity and employment.
Commenting on the partnership, EDB CEO Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi said, “The collaboration with Beehive is part of our mission to bridge the funding gap by offering SMEs greater and easier access to financial sources. Through our combined efforts, we look forward to strengthening the SME ecosystem and supporting the UAE’s goals to build a robust knowledge-based economy.”
For his part, Beehive Founder and CEO Craig Moore said, “The addition of institutional investors to Beehive will give SMEs more secure financing and better liquidity on the platform, which means that funding can be received faster too.”
The Beehive platform uses crowdfunding technology to connect SMEs looking for finance with a crowd of investors who can support their finance requests, whilst earning attractive returns.
In addition to its network of retail investors, Beehive has adapted its business model to include institutional investors to increase liquidity and the speed of funding for its businesses.