Special report in partnership with Thomson Reuters highlights link between SME innovation and finance

  • Almost AED 25 million channeled to 48 SMEs in first year

  • Zero defaults

  • Over 2600 investors registered on the platform

  • Certificate of Sharia Compliance awarded

 Report findings:

         51% of respondents highlighted finance as a major enabler to innovation

         The majority of innovation in the UAE comes from taking existing ideas and making them better

         Building a culture of innovation inside companies is difficult, but the companies that are able to foster innovative thinking throughout every level of their business will be more successful

         Building a strong SME community and a collaborative culture play a greater role in fostering SME innovation and success than enforcing policy and regulations

         The UAE Government leads by example and encourages innovation with free-zone business hubs, accessible regulations and leadership, and creates a collaborative culture and community for SMEs

Dubai, 17 November 2015

Beehive, the UAE's leading online marketplace for peer-to-peer (P2P) finance, celebrates its first anniversary with the launch of a research whitepaper in partnership with Thomson Reuters called "Spotlight on SME innovation". The whitepaper highlights what drives innovation in small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE.

Since its launch in November 2014, Beehive has channeled almost AED 25 million to around 50 SMEs in the UAE, and in the process helped fuel the ambitions of the SME ecosystem. The role innovation plays in the success of SMEs inspired Beehive to develop the "Spotlight on SME innovation" whitepaper, which presents the views of over 100 SMEs in the UAE.

Craig Moore, Founder and CEO of Beehive commented: "Being an SME ourselves, we know that our success is because of our ability to innovate. It is particularly important for SMEs to explore different ways to innovate so they can compete in both a regional and global market. We are delighted to be celebrating our first anniversary and have been overwhelmed with the response in the market and our ability to make a positive difference in the SME ecosystem in the UAE."

The most interesting finding of the whitepaper highlighted that a lack of funding to invest in innovation is a big barrier, with 51% of respondents highlighting finance as a major enabler to innovation.

The "Spotlight on SME innovation" whitepaper also found that the government leads by example to inspire innovation and plays a key role in encouraging SME innovation with the establishment of Free-Zone business hubs and business-friendly regulations. While the majority of innovation in the UAE comes from taking existing ideas and making them better, the most important thing that SMEs must do to drive innovation is invest into calculated innovation strategies.

Rick Pudner, Chairman of Beehive, added: "When we launched, we were aware there was a funding gap for SMEs in the region, but we didn't realize what a big impact this was having on innovation. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum has said that innovation holds the key to Dubai's progress, and we hope to be one of the catalysts for innovation within the SME community."

Over the past year 2 businesses have completed a full repayment cycle, and Beehive received second applications for finance from 7 existing SMEs on the platform. Beehive has also launched an invoice finance product, helping to bridge the gap between payments, and a secondary market where investors on the platform are able to transfer existing finance parts between each other.

The Beehive platform uses P2P finance, based on crowdfunding technology, to directly connect investors with creditworthy businesses seeking working capital to grow their business. The technology eliminates the cost and complexity of conventional finance and enables SMEs to access faster, lower cost and more flexible funding. Beehive facilitates business finance solutions starting at AED 100,000 for up to 3 years at very competitive rates. Investors can join Beehive by setting up an account with only AED 1,000 and can invest from as little as AED 100 into businesses listed on the platform. Beehive has already attracted over 2600 investor registrations, and that number continues to rise.

Beehive launched its Sharia-compliant investment platform in April 2015, allowing Islamic investors in the UAE to take full advantage of the opportunities that marketplace finance has to offer, while providing complete confidence that their values are respected and adhered to.

In September 2015, Beehive pioneered a world first; by becoming the first independently certified Sharia compliant P2P platform globally.  With its Sharia-compliant offering, Beehive supports Dubai's strategy to become the capital of the global Islamic Economy by 2016.

In October 2015 Beehive was awarded 'Start-Up of the Year' at the Gulf Capital SME Awards.

The "Spotlight on SME innovation" whitepaper can be accessed from [https://www.beehive.ae/white-paper/] as of the 18th of November 2015.

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Media enquiries
Enji Yassin
Marketing Manager at Beehive
+97152 966 8598

About Beehive
Launched in November 2014, Beehive has rapidly grown into the UAE's leading online peer-to-peer platform. The brainchild of serial entrepreneur Craig Moore, supported by Rick Pudner, former Group CEO of Emirates NBD, Beehive facilitates flexible Sharia compliant financing solutions for established SME businesses seeking finance of more than AED 100,000 for up to 3 years.

Individual investors can invest from as little as AED 100 into each business listed on the platform and receive monthly repayments at target rates ranging between 8% APR and 20% APR. Beehive undertakes thorough due diligence on each business listed on the platform and the company facilitates the finance agreement between the business and investors, charging a small percentage fee of the finance amount.

Investors are also able to buy or sell their finance parts to other investors on the platform through Beehive's secondary market, giving investors access to a liquid market place where they can trade finance parts, in a similar manner to a bond market.

Since launch, Beehive has attracted over 2600 investor registrations, who have successfully funded almost AED 25 million to 48 businesses.

About Peer-to-Peer Finance
Peer-to-peer finance, based on crowdfunding principles, enables Beehive to reduce operating costs and streamline processes to minimise the cost and complexity in finance.

Otherwise known as marketplace financing, peer-to-peer finance funded $9bn in loans globally in 2014 and is forecast to deliver $1 trillion by 2025. It is an increasingly popular form of crowdfunding that is changing how SMEs borrow capital and how investors manage risk and return.

Invoice Financing is a popular tool for businesses to improve cash flow and boost their working capital, it closes the gap between the moment a business issues an invoice and when it receives the actual payment, unlocking the value of their accounts-receivable.

Press Release 2015