Acudeen launches Xcelerate in Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines - Acudeen Technologies Inc., in partnership with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Iloilo Chapter and the International Finance Corp. (IFC), recently spearheaded a business convention that seeks to empower micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Iloilo and the entire Western Visayas region.

The event, “Xcelerate: Excel. Accelerate – Iloilo” held last June 20 at the Iloilo Convention Center, gathered around 400 MSMEs  in the region to discuss the business landscape and explore opportunities in the area.

Acudeen is a technology company enabling MSMEs finance their receivables ahead of time. Their online platform allows speedy transactions, from receivable uploaded to cash within 5-7 days, giving MSMEs better control of their cash flow. Acudeen originated from the Filipino words “Ako Din!” as the mission of the company is to bring financial inclusion to all small businesses in the country.

Among the speakers are Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran and IFC’s Gay Santos, who discussed the bill on secured transactions that would open up access to financing among the MSME sector.

“Western Visayan economy is developing very rapidly particularly in the areas of agriculture tourism, and entrepreneurship so much so that electric utility companies have doubled their efforts to provide electricity within the region in support of this growth. Large corporations like Megaworld, Ayala and SM have started to heavily invest in Western Visayas which provided avenues for SMEs to build more business,” said Acudeen chief marketing officer Miguel Alegre.

The workshop highlighted the various means for MSMEs to access financing like equity, debt and especially alternative finance by way of leveraging their current and future cashflow/account receivables.

Talking about his experiences as a business owner before and how difficult it was for SMEs to have access to alternative financing.

“SMEs are the main fuel of our economy, contributing to about 40 percent of our GDP. And yet the business environment in our country is not designed for them to grow. The business is a reflection of my utmost desire to help other entrepreneurs, especially the young dreamers and visionaries out there, have the tool to sustain their business and at the same time grow at a faster rate,” said Acudeen chief executive officer Mario Jordan Fetalino III.