Singapore – Choco Up, a regional growth financing platform, has launched an AI-driven credit assessment engine aimed at accelerating access to funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The new system significantly reduces the time required to process financing applications, shortening the duration from submission to fund disbursement from several days to as little as a few minutes.
Developed to accommodate the needs of SMEs at scale, the AI-enhanced system can process funding requests of up to USD$200,000, reflecting the typical range sought by most SMEs. The faster turnaround is expected to assist businesses during high-demand trading periods such as the festive and year-end e-commerce seasons.
Percy Hung, founder and CEO of Choco Up, shared that the firm understands how important rapid access to capital is to enable continuity and growth for SMEs.
“Our new AI-powered credit assessment engine is a key step toward that–helping clients move faster, fund smarter, and in many cases, unlock revenue growth through AI-driven insights and operations,” Percy commented.
“Looking ahead, we will continue advancing our use of AI to enhance the client journey and deepen our embedded financing and partner solutions to deliver even great value to SMEs across Asia.”
SMEs represent 98% of all businesses across Asia but continue to face an estimated USD$2t shortfall in available financing. Many operate with limited physical assets, making it difficult to meet the collateral requirements of traditional lenders, while equity investors often demand ownership stakes.
These constraints have left many entrepreneurs in need of more accessible, flexible, and non-dilutive financing options.
The AI-powered credit assessment engine automates multiple stages of the financing process through the use of AI coding agents—specialised systems designed to execute specific analytical tasks. These include the extraction and evaluation of financial data from bank statements, historical sales, and revenue forecasts to assess the applicant’s financial health.
The integration of AI enhances decision accuracy, reduces processing time, and maintains compliance standards.
Choco Up also plans to expand the application of AI throughout the client lifecycle, from acquisition and onboarding to post-funding support. By using AI to identify and tailor financing options, the company aims to create a more seamless and data-driven experience that enables SMEs across Asia to access growth capital more efficiently.
