An increasingly popular way to connect entrepreneurs and secure investment, crowdlending is proving to be a key driver for innovative growth stage businesses. It connects those businesses that have great potential and disruptive ideas with major investors, empowering emerging markets around the world, especially in developing countries.

An emerging market in its own right, crowdlending is changing the investment landscape. Add the ever-increasing popularity of blockchain to the equation and you’ve got two miracles of the modern era that, when combined, will revolutionize the way ideas and businesses come to life.

Let’s take a deeper look at crowdlending and find out how it’s already giving opportunities for new businesses in emerging markets around the world.

Crowdlending (sometimes called P2P or P2B lending) enables investors to empower new businesses through financial support. In the past, entrepreneurs would often be limited to personal savings and contributions from friends, family members and close relationships. An alternative was to secure a bank loan, by persuading banks that they were worth a bet. This meant their ideas and their potential were tied to the health of the market. If things were good, they had a chance. If not, their dream dwindled away before it had even seen the light of day.

Following the disastrous financial crisis in 2008, banks were far more reluctant to give loans. As a result, high potential businesses in emerging markets suffered. Before long, entrepreneurs began looking for an alternative to the traditional banking/lending system. They didn’t have to look far.

The rapid growth of the internet changed our lives, to the way we communicate to the way we live, travel and work. It also changed the financial industry. In 2005, Zopa, the first ever online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending company emerged in the UK. After the financial crisis, crowdlending gathered momentum, with many other platforms appearing in the US.

In 2020, the crowdlending revolution is in full swing. Meanwhile, traditional money lending to emerging businesses is on the decline.

Consumer crowdlending is a massive threat to conventional banking. Firstly, the low operational costs for P2P platforms are much lower than those of traditional banks, meaning P2P lending platforms can offer attractive interest rates to borrowers.

Secondly, the P2P user experience far surpases that of the old lending system. When it comes to a comparison between intuitive, state of the art online interfaces, developed by a generation of highly skilled, highly creative experts, and an antiquated system entangled in outmoded bureaucracy and primitive technology… well, there simply is no comparison.

Aside from lending and borrowing, the 2008 financial crisis had an even more profound impact. It shook consumers’ trust in banks to the core. The result was the emergence of blockchain, a revolutionary technology that’s disrupting the entire global financial system.

Fed up with uncertainty, instability and outright corruption, people are turning to a decentralized, automated system that operates in a fair, transparent manner. This will eventually change the way we exchange goods and services. It’s already changing the way innovative ideas get off the ground.

Through blockchain lending, investors can connect with businesses they believe in, without relying on third-party interference. Modern, intuitive online lending platforms are designed to simplify the lending process, something that has, historically, been very complex. With a significant reduction in risk and increase in speed, blockchain lending is threatening to make traditional banking obsolete.

One of the major differences between the traditional banking system and crowdlending is the impact on emerging markets across the globe. Crowdlending takes full advantage of our modern, inter-connected world, cultivating a network of investors and remarkably talented young entrepreneurs. From Indonesians with ingenious ideas to gifted Ghanaians with innovative inventions, there are countless talented entrepreneurs in developing countries. Previously, they wouldn’t have had access to funding. But things are changing.

Everyday investors now have access to emerging businesses and frontier markets around the world, giving them the chance to make connections they would never have previously been able to make.

For exceptional businesses past the proof of concept stage, that can demonstrate their scalability, growth was blocked by the limitations of traditional lending. A lack of access to capital meant that ideas never got off the ground in developing countries, perpetuating the global business imbalance.

But now, with crowdlending, significant investment is being funneled into underserved countries throughout the world, where young creatives are developing companies that are driving emerging markets, with the potential to become truly transformational.

Of course, crowdlending offers significant returns for investors too. Investors the world over have more opportunity than ever before to invest in potentially groundbreaking enterprises, earning massive profits in the process. It all adds up to be beneficial for all – creating economic opportunities, unprecedented business growth and invaluable connections on a global scale, all through a transparent, fair financial system.

At Raise, we’re dedicated to creating better opportunities for emerging markets around the world. That’s why we’re delighted to welcome Indonesia’s first micro-lending credit service, Uangteman, to our platform.

An innovative fintech firm, UangTeman is making waves in the Indonesian financial scene. While Indonesia may be the 10th largest economy in the world when it comes to purchasing power, a large portion of the Southeast Asian country’s population are living below the poverty line. This segment of Indonesian society has been ignored by the traditional banking system.

Historically, emerging markets have been stifled by a lack of access to credit and sky-high interest rates. Traditional financial systems have made launching all the more difficult for innovative new companies. But the world, especially in the financial sense, is changing fast.

Uangteman’s aim is to provide a P2P lending platform that stimulates growth from the bottom up. The P2P lending company is setting its sights on expanding its influence in Southeast Asia, with a move to broaden its reach to include the Philippines.

With a company name that translates into English as ‘friend’s money’, they have a clear focus on providing a safe and socially responsible online lending system. In this way, they’re playing their part in the global financial revolution.