REIT ASIAPAC
Interview
ARA-BACKED MINTEREST CROWDFUNDS DESPITE PANDEMIC
Technology is an important enabler , however , understanding the fundamentals of finance is equally critical to create a functional algorithm , says Minterest .
Minterest Team Office
Minterest , a Singapore-based company formed in 2016 , is a crowdfunding platform that links corporate and individual borrowers with international lenders who are keen to invest into real estate or SME loans . It was started by Charis Liau , who currently serves as CEO , and Ronnie Chia , as COO . Both Charis and Ronnie are from the banking and finance industry and former colleagues at an international bank .
On May 5 , Minterest announced that real estate giant ARA Asset Management acquired a stake in the company . A few weeks on , it also announced that it had raised S $ 500,000 ( US $ 371,000 ) in 11 minutes through its platform for its first real estate product . The short-term fixed-income product was backed by the secured mezzanine debt financing of a A $ 440 million ( US $ 315 million ), 64-level high-rise residential development project in Melbourne ’ s central business district , which offered a gross return of 6 % per annum for a minimum tenor of three months .
To date , Minterest has facilitated a cumulative origination volume of over S $ 145 million in Singapore across its corporate and consumer businesses . It has also raised over S $ 43 million for three real estate products so far .
REITAsiaPac sat down with Liau to discuss her views on innovations in real estate financing and Proptech . Here is what she has to say :
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