OCBC Bank: Plans to provide SGD 5 billion in financing for the “serial entrepreneur” customer base by 2028

The Zhitong Finance App learned that recently, OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) announced that OCBC Bank Group will launch an innovative financing plan tailored for serial entrepreneurs (serial entrepreneurs) in Hong Kong, China before the end of the year. The program showcases the broader side of OCBC Bank's strategy and aims to support its core market, covering entrepreneurs with multiple start-ups in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia. To this end, OCBC Bank Group aims to provide SGD 5 billion in financing for serial entrepreneurs in these four markets by 2028.

On July 7, OCBC Bank announced that it has officially launched this service in Malaysia, marking the first time that this business has expanded to other markets after Singapore. By the end of 2024, more than 1,800 serial entrepreneurs from Singapore and Malaysia had received a total of 1.5 billion yuan in financing through this service. The Group expects to provide an additional SGD 3.5 billion in financing in these markets between 2025 and 2028, which will be launched in Hong Kong, China by the end of this year. OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) also provides industry project services for serial entrepreneurs, including working capital financing, venture financing, cross-border expansion, sustainable financing, and financial consulting for mergers and acquisitions.

A serial entrepreneur is an entrepreneur who owns multiple small startup companies. OCBC pointed out that as Southeast Asia's entrepreneurial ecosystem becomes more active, this group is growing rapidly. Nearly half of the small businesses that banks serve in Malaysia come from these serial entrepreneurs.

Zheng Baoqiong, Managing Director of OCBC Global Commercial Banking Business, said, “We view the portfolio of companies under serial entrepreneurs as a growth platform. We believe this approach, which is centered on the entrepreneur himself, will resonate widely in our other core markets.”