The Kredit Hero team
Today marks the launch of the fintech platform Kredit Hero, designed to streamline and transform the lending process for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
By connecting borrowers with multiple lenders through a single application form, Kredit Hero leverages advanced profiling techniques to deliver rapid and accurate loan approvals. This approach promises to significantly simplify access to credit for SMEs, potentially reshaping the region’s fintech landscape.
The company is co-founded by three industry experts: Scott Moore, Mark Harper, and Michel de Rijk. Moore brings his expertise in loan origination and AI-driven credit scoring, backed by his extensive experience in fintech entrepreneurship across Southeast Asia.
Harper complements this with his strong background in business banking, credit product management, and regulatory compliance gained from managing large-scale bank portfolios. Meanwhile, de Rijk, known for his leadership in digital programmatic advertising and expertise in mergers and acquisitions, adds a unique perspective to the team, ensuring seamless operations and strategic growth. The co-founders have assembled a team with deep knowledge of credit products, risk assessment, and marketing execution.
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Kredit Hero is being developed under 19Volt, a Singapore-based venture builder co-founded by Moore and de Rijk. The company focuses on driving innovative solutions across various sectors. With its combined skills and experience, the team aims to achieve its ambitious goals for Kredit Hero, revolutionising SME financing in the region.
Moore explains more about the platform’s mission in an email interview with e27. The following is an edited excerpt of the interview.
Kredit Hero aims to be the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian market. What inspired you to create this platform, and how do you see it transforming the lending landscape for SMEs in the region?
Our inspiration for Kredit Hero comes from our personal experiences in lending and banking, both in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia (SEA). We have seen firsthand the challenges SMEs face when securing funding and the hurdles lenders encounter in assessing and managing risk. These challenges hit home for us and sparked the idea for Kredit Hero.
We wanted to create something that truly makes a difference: a smart marketplace that does not just connect SMEs with lenders but does so with intelligence. Kredit Hero uses advanced analysis, modelling, and risk scoring to match borrowers with lenders in a way never done before in this region.
Our goal is to make the process more efficient and to open up access to credit for more businesses. By making the lending process more transparent and insightful, we believe we can positively impact the cost of credit over time.
Kredit Hero offers borrowers a single entry point to a wide range of lenders, making it easier for them to access the capital they need. For lenders, we provide well-analysed, targeted opportunities that align perfectly with their specific criteria. It is about building a system where both sides can confidently operate, ultimately leading to a more vibrant and accessible lending landscape in SEA.
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Can you explain how Kredit Hero’s advanced profiling system works to ensure a rapid turnaround for loan applications? What technologies or methodologies are you using to achieve this efficiency?
Kredit Hero’s platform is fully automated and digitised, designed to make the loan application process faster and more efficient. Our system can digitise and analyse bank statements, financial documents, and other key information, transforming raw data into a consistent output in minutes—a significant improvement over the traditional approach, which can take days.
What is really exciting is that by automating the analysis, we are giving lenders the chance to focus on what matters most: making informed decisions. Lenders can even define their specific interests, ensuring that they only receive deals that match the types of loans they offer. Borrowers benefit from quicker responses, and lenders can use their resources more efficiently.
Kredit Hero leverages extensive deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and generative AI to analyse, evaluate, and seamlessly match applicants with the most suitable lenders.
The SME sector in SEA is vast and diverse. How does Kredit Hero tailor its services to meet the unique needs of different regional industries and markets? How do you promote your service and acquire your users?
Improving SME access to quality credit and lenders’ ability to rapidly assess and model applications is a universal issue.
While there are variations by industry and market, our platform is designed to address this core challenge and opportunity. Starting in the Philippines, where the SME credit gap is particularly large.
We focus on digital marketing, strategic partnerships, and active community engagement to promote our service and attract users.
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Looking ahead, what are your plans for Kredit Hero’s expansion and growth? Are there any new features or markets you’re looking to explore shortly?
There is a lot of potential for Kredit Hero, and we are definitely planning to expand across SEA to reach new markets and assist more SMEs. However, our current focus is helping as many businesses in the Philippines as possible access the quality credit they need.
Have you raised any external funding? Do you plan to?
Yes, we have already raised some external funding and plan to raise additional capital in the near future. This will help us expand our reach in new markets, develop new features, and ultimately make an even bigger impact.
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Image Credit: Kredit Hero
The post Kredit Hero launches to revolutionise SME lending in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.