Cambodia Investment Review
KhmerCare, a new crowdfunding platform for charity and social enterprises, has launched in Cambodia, offering a transparent and efficient way for donors to contribute to local causes. The platform was developed by Pathmazing to assist in addressing the funding gap for charities and early-stage impact-driven businesses by allowing enterprises to raise capital through crowdfunding.
KhmerCare’s founder and CEO, Steven Path, said at the launch ceremony that, “the platform was designed to support local causes and help loved ones in need of financial aid. The online platform is powered by a trusted and fully-transparent system to drive immediate change and positively impact people’s lives. Path added that its easy-to-use interface and secure payment system ensure it is simple for users to donate in seconds and track their impact in real-time.”
The launch event was attended by notable figures including:
- H.E. Dr. Chea Serey, Co-Founder of the Raksa Koma Foundation
- H.E. Vath Chamroeun, Secretary-General of CAMSOC
- Mr. Scott Neeson, Founder of Cambodia Children’s Fund
- Lok Oknha Vattanac Sam Ang, CEO of Vattanc Brewery
- Ms. Melanie Mosard, CEO of Impact Hub Phnom Penh
- Mr. Steven Path, CEO and Founder of Khmer Care
Cambodia has largely remained out of the crowdfunding market until now, as Cambodian bank accounts are not eligible to create accounts nor receive money using the traditional international crowdfunding platform such as GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo since Stripe doesn’t recognize Cambodian bank accounts.
Read more: How to receive money in Cambodia
Cambodia Investment Review was informed that KhmerCare takes no commission for processing the donations, all funds are kept in a separate no interest holding account and donations can be accepted from anywhere in the world.
ABA Bank, a major player in Cambodia’s banking sector, has also thrown its support behind the new crowdfunding platform CEO Askhat Azhikhanov said, “the bank is an active corporate citizen and is committed to supporting the country’s development. Supporting sports is one of the bank’s core corporate social responsibility commitments to the people, which is why sponsoring the historic SEA Games was a natural fit for ABA.”
In addition to its primary sponsorship of one and a half million US dollars as the Exclusive Bank Sponsor and Exclusive Cashless Payment Sponsor, ABA Bank will contribute $150,000 dollars for “One Dollar to One Dollar” matching on the KhmerCare platform. Furthermore, the bank will cooperate with KhmerCare to enable it in its mobile banking application, so all ABA Mobile users can access it to donate funds right from the app.
Supporting social enterprises in Cambodia
Melanie Mosard, CEO of Impact Hub Phnom Penh, explained that social enterprises in Cambodia play a critical role in the sustainable development of the country, but there is a funding gap for early-stage impact-driven businesses. Entrepreneurs often lack access to traditional funding sources due to demographic factors, such as a young population with limited savings, and the requirements of investors for traction and a mature team.
Mosard notes that there have been few successful crowdfunding efforts in Cambodia to date, with TosFund launching in 2015 and closing in 2018 due to a lack of traction. However, microdonations using Facebook have emerged since the rise of ABA in 2020.
To promote greater awareness and support for crowdfunding social enterprises in Cambodia through KhmerCare, Mosard suggests spreading the stories of impact on social media and regularly donating to initiatives. She also calls for support from the diaspora community of Cambodians living abroad to show them that impactful locally-grown initiatives are emerging and are worth supporting.
Read more: Sustainable SMEs in Cambodia face an uphill battle in scaling up
“Through our partnership with Khmer Care, we aim to support selected early-operational social enterprises in crafting their story in a powerful way, highlighting their stories of impact on how they are improving the lives of the local community. Once the campaign is successful, Impact Hub Phnom Penh will ensure the wise use of the funds received, and will provide ongoing mentorship and consultancy to support these initiatives in the early stage of their operations,” Mosard told Cambodia Investment Review.
“Our goal is that through this partnership, we will be able to provide a financial launchpad for more than 100 projects by the end of 2030, and the initiatives funded will be able to improve the lives of 500,000+ people sustainably, while creating meaningful job opportunities for more than 1,000 people,” she added.
