Cambodia Investment Review
Phnom Penh venture capital firm OBOR Management will work with Cambodia’s Small and Medium-Sized business owners to improve their financial management, business projections and better understand investor requirements.
The training will be available to local companies that can show either $100,000 in historical revenue or $5,000 in monthly income – this revenue however must be officially recorded.
The half-day workshops conducted in English will be held on Saturdays at Khmer Enterprise Head Office, with the core program taking place from February to May 2022.
On top of training and 1-on-1 support, there will also be a prize money pool of $15,000 awarded to the top SMEs alongside any new capital raised. The prize money is made possible by the sponsorship from ABA Bank, AMK MFI, Wing Bank and SME Bank of Cambodia.
The program – solely funded by Khmer Enterprise and implemented by OBOR Management – will recruit the top SMEs in Cambodia that are close to reaching investment readiness and looking to understand and engage with new financial partners to upscale their business to the next level.
KE was established as an implementation unit of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF) to deliver the support programs and directly work with partners and beneficiaries.
The organization aims to mobilize, invest and manage resources, from all legitimate sources, to support the development of a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and to provide financial and non-financial supports to related entrepreneurial ecosystem builders.
Chhieng Vanmunin, CEO of Khmer Enterprise, said: “It is important to enhance the access to finance for startups and SMEs to scale up their business operations.”
“This [lack of capital to scale] remains one of the major obstacles for startups and SMEs in Cambodia. After completing this program, it is hoped that startups and SMEs can raise new capital,” he added.
Cambodia has been improving its business registration process due to a lot of work by the Ministry of Commerce and government over the past five years to improve digital registration and access to information.
However, managing a registered business is still considered complex and expensive such as submitting a monthly tax returns and understanding tax compliance.
Cambodian SMEs need more mentorship and capacity building
KE has also entered into an agreement with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) signing a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The MoU outlined a collaboration framework with an agreement to hold joint and co-branded events, training workshops, seminars, business matchings, business promotions, pitching events, and entrepreneurial culture promotions.
In addition, AmCham would provide capacity upgrading, mentorship and share information on American business in Cambodia to support the initiative as part of the agreement.
Christophe Forsinetti, CEO & Chairman of OBOR said: “We are extremely pleased to work with Khmer Enterprise on this program as it is a significant step in the strengthening of the startup and SME support ecosystem, which OBOR has focused on for several years.
“We look forward to supporting young Cambodian companies to become the leaders of their space in the next ten years,” he added.
Recruitment for the program will be on a rolling basis through to January 2022. Phase 1 will run from February to March 2022, with a cohort of 25 SMEs going through workshop training.
At the end of this group training, OBOR alongside the program partners will select top SMEs among the 25 SMEs to proceed to the final phase.
This final phase will run from April to May 2022, an intensive program where SMEs will have 1-on-1 support from market-leading SME business advisors and operators.
To apply for this training or find out more please register here.
