Helicap Fund-I Tokenized and Listed on Digital Securities Exchange ADDX

Singaporean digital securities exchange, ADDX, has announced the tokenization and listing of Helicap Fund I.  While already a well performing fund, this step was taken with the goal of promoting financial inclusion among individual investors and Asian SMEs – a mission shared by each ADDX, and Helicap Investments.

Although still limited to those deemed ‘accredited investors’, by undergoing tokenization, exposure can now be attained for as little as $10,000 – as opposed to the more traditional $250,000 required.  This means that investors can gain access to a proven fund for 1/25th the capital typically needed, highlighting a key benefit of digital securities in the process.

Helicap Fund-I

As the flagship fund of Helicap Investments, the company notes that it has, ‘…disbursed more than US$100 million in loans and has achieved a net return of around 10% on an annualised basis’.  These figures span across a period beginning in 2018 when the fund was established.  The following are a few highlights of the fund provided by ADDX.

• 44 consecutive months of positive returns
• Diversified across 5 countries and 7 lending segments
• Quarterly distributions w/ 9-11% Net Target Return

This fund is used primarily to facilitate funding for various digital lenders within SouthEast Asia which in turn provide micro-loans in the private debt market.  This means that not only is its tokenization helping to democratise private markets (a goal of ADDX), it is indirectly helping end-borrowers as well by making micro-loans more accessible to fund small business ventures.

In addition to financial inclusion, ADDX and Helicap Investments believe that exposure to private debt markets is especially appealing at the moment due to its low-correlation to languishing public debt markets, and continued global inflation.

Commentary

Upon announcing the tokenization and listing of Helicap Fund I, Oi-Yee Choo, CEO of ADDX, took the time to comment.

“Microlending companies are tackling a real problem that traditional lenders have not been able to solve because they haven’t built the granular knowhow and infrastructure for it. Microlenders are putting funds in the hands of creditworthy individuals and small businesses, bringing about financial inclusion which translates into more jobs, more people having access to education and higher living standards.  Helicap is on a mission to power these microlenders by providing them with lending capital.

The company’s mission of improving financial access for underserved customers ties in perfectly with ADDX’s own mission of democratising the private markets. We are therefore excited to list Helicap’s flagship fund.”

$58M Series-B

News of this fund tokenization comes only a short period after we highlighted ADDX and its successful Series-B funding round, which saw the company attract $58M from a variety of investors.

This Series-B brought the total amount raised by ADDX up to $120M, and was spearheaded by the following companies, and more.

• Singapore Exchange (SGX)
• Heliconia Capital
• Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings

With digital securities yet to experience their time in the sun, like NFTs in 2021, the sector still appears ripe for companies to make themselves known now, and establish a presence as an industry leader.  Between its well-funded rounds, tokenization of high-profile funds, and growing presence, ADDX is well poised to function as a leader when the sector finally experiences its own boom.