Vikas Nahata (Executive Chairman) and Nihkilesh Goel (CEO) co-founded the business in Singapore in 2015. They developed a supply chain-focused lending model that utilized non-traditional data access through partnerships with traditional banks and international institutions. The company has since expanded to include Indonesia (Batumbu), Thailand (Siam Validus), and Vietnam (Validus Vietnam).
“Traditional banks across the SEA region still rely on legacy credit evaluation methods for small businesses, and they are overly reliant on historical financials and real estate-backed collateral,” Goel said. “For a region experiencing GDP growth of 5-6% per annum, small businesses need access to stable and accessible working capital to grow their businesses and contribute to job creation and nation building. This is where Validus plays a major role as the largest digital SME financing provider across ASEAN.”