By: 2 August 2023

Validus has disbursed more than US$2.8b in loans to small businesses in Southeast Asia, since its establishment in 2015

Validus Capital, a financing platform for small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia, has appointed Vineet Agarwal as its new chief executive officer in Singapore.  

Vineet Agarwal

Agarwal joined the company early in 2022, where he led the digital financial services and payments strategy, product development and market plans for the roll-out of Validus’ full product offering.  

He replaces Jayanta Roy, who is retiring after six years at the company. Prior to Validus, Agarwal held roles at DBS and American Express. 

Validus offers business accounts, corporate cards, local and cross-border payments, and expense management solutions, in addition to its existing loan products.  

The Singapore-headquartered company said it drives financial inclusion and prosperity for underserved small businesses, with its financial products, which increases customers’ productivity and reduces costs.  

Since its establishment in 2015, Validus has disbursed more than US$2.8b in loans to small businesses in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. It grew its loan book by 80% in 2022 compared to the previous year.  

The company is backed by strategic investors and VCs, including Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, FMO, SEA Frontier Fund and Openspace Ventures.  

Nikhilesh Goel, co-founder and group chief executive officer of Validus, commented on the appointment: “With Vineet at the helm, Validus is well-placed to enter the next stage of growth with an innovative approach fueled by strategic partnerships, embedded finance, alternative data, and AI-driven data analytics.”  

Image: Validus  

Josh Poyser
Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.