CapBay is a familiar name in Malaysia’s fintech space. Known for supply chain finance and its P2P financing platform, CapBay has channelled over RM4 billion in financing to more than 2,000 SMEs across 20 different sectors, driving financial inclusion in areas where access to capital remains a stubborn barrier.

It’s also the only Malaysian fintech company featured on CNBC’s list of the World’s Top Fintech Companies.

But success wasn’t always a straightforward path.

Behind CapBay’s growth lies a story of grit, setbacks, and quiet resilience. One that kept the company moving forward, even when everything else seemed to be falling apart.

In a special edition of Fintech Fireside Asia, Ang Xing Xian, CEO and co-founder of CapBay in Malaysia, shares how personal hardships, unexpected partnerships, and a deep-rooted belief in inclusive finance have shaped the company’s pathway to success.

The Genesis of an Idea

CapBay was born out of a real-life struggle, shaped by an experience from one of the co-founders’ families.

The idea first took root during Xing Xian’s teenage years. His father, a fisherman turned trader, often received early morning calls from bank managers warning that his cheques would bounce unless he deposited cash by 9 am. Hoping to help, Xing Xian began calling factoring companies, financial firms that advance money based on unpaid invoices.

However, he found their solutions hard to understand and out of reach for small businesses.

He saw promise in something closer to home: the traditional Malaysian kutu system, a community-based savings and lending pool.

This was Xing Xian’s first glimpse at crowdfunding in action. Calling it his first real exposure to crowdfunding, he felt its system went beyond people bidding to borrow a pool of money and closer towards people backing each other.

His drive to build something meaningful deepened during his Master’s studies, where he discovered what he calls the first wave of P2P crowdfunding pioneers: platforms like the Lending Club and Funding Circle.

Years later, fate kicked in. Darrel Ang, his future co-founder, was on a parallel journey. While pursuing his Masters, Darrel wrote a 10,000-word thesis on how marketplace financing could power SMEs in developing countries.

Same goal. Same belief in crowd-sourced capital. And the same obsession.

Both co-founders crossed paths years later and realised they’d been trying to solve the same problem all along. That unexpected yet natural alignment brought together two founders of CapBay in Malaysia.

A Startup, A Slip-in Pitch, and a Stroke of Luck

Now, CapBay’s journey from idea to business wasn’t immediate. Xing Xian spent a few years second-guessing himself, building pitch decks not to convince investors, but to convince himself.

What finally pushed things forward was luck.

At a local startup pitch near his home, a last-minute dropout gave Xing Xian the chance to present his idea on stage. While he divulged that the impromptu pitch went badly, it clearly struck a chord. Someone from Bank Negara Malaysia was in the crowd, and they were hooked.

“To my surprise, the next day, I got a call from someone at Bank Negara. Apparently, they got my number from the organiser and said, ‘Hey, your idea actually makes sense. Can we talk more?’”

A junior staff from BNM rang him up. He shared that Xing Xian’s pitch made sense and, coincidentally, one of 200+ items in the financial sector’s past blueprint mentioned a market-based financial approach to receivable financing.

That one call was CapBay’s tipping point. It led to a series of meetings with senior bankers from the central bank. Most dismissed the idea. But one finally said, “this could work.” That validation, and a RM100,000 loan from Edwin Tan, another co-founder, gave birth to CapBay in Malaysia.

A Self-Funded Beginning

CapBay initially intended to start as a multi-bank supply chain finance platform and quickly attracted attention. While the idea was well-received in Bank Negara sessions, progress stalled. It relied heavily on banks, who were slow to commit. For a few years, momentum stalled.

Frustrated but undeterred, and coupled with growing pressure from investors with no bank partnerships materialising, the team decided to self-fund operations to prove the model. Together with the staff, they pooled their savings and began lending directly to SMEs.

At the time, there were no regulatory frameworks for P2P financing yet, so CapBay’s early efforts were designed as a proof of concept.

One of CapBay’s first loans was RM6,000 to a sole proprietor trying to bring in lab equipment from China for a Malaysian university.

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CapBay’s Journey from Bootstrapping with RM6,000 to Funding RM4 Billion A Facebook ad, RM6,000, and one loan—that’s how CapBay began its journey to RM4 billion in financing and transforming SME growth. @capbay_my #fintech #SMEs #innovation #finance #funding

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That first hit gave CapBay its edge. So when the Securities Commission later opened applications for peer-to-peer financing licenses, CapBay was more than prepared. They’d already learnt to lend with discipline, as they’d been deploying their own capital from the start.

A few years later, that same borrower reached out again, now as a supplier managing multimillion-ringgit contracts. He told the team that a small loan had given him the confidence to take his first real step.

Stories like his are now shared across the CapBay team, not as metrics or milestones, but as reminders of the lives behind the loans.

Surviving the Hardest Days

In early 2020, CapBay in Malaysia had raised funds and expanded its team, only for the pandemic to strike. Investors pulled out. Cash dried up. To top it off, their new hires had just left their jobs to join CapBay. Telling them they might not get paid was unthinkable.

CapBay scraped through. They found a new investor and emerged with a new yet relatable philosophy to anyone persevering. Xing Xian quipped,

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CapBay’s Early Days: A Lesson in Perseverance Co-founder and CEO Ang Xing Xian reflects on the early struggles of building CapBay, the risks the team took, and what they would do differently today. @capbay_my #fintech #innovation #finance #SME #foryou #fyp

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The crisis forged a new mindset that lives on in the company today. In Xing Xian’s office, a sign reads: I consider every day we don’t die a success.

It might sound like dark humour. Perhaps, instead, it’s a quiet creed for anyone building through uncertainty. This is a reminder that perseverance means simply refusing to give up.

What’s Next for CapBay?

With over RM4 billion in financing disbursed and profitability achieved, CapBay is now shaping ecosystems. The team has expanded into Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets to grow while also supporting Malaysian SMEs expanding abroad.

These businesses often find themselves shut out by local lenders. CapBay steps in, handling credit checks, collections, and financing where others won’t.

But the company’s next wave is even more ambitious. CapBay is now positioning itself as a key lender for new digital-first business models, especially startups overlooked by traditional banks. The goal is to be a specialist organisation that understands the financial needs of emerging sectors like AI, digital healthcare, and public services.

“We see ourselves not so much as the lender, but more of an ecosystem that provides the data, organises it and builds the technology so that financing and financial services can happen, powered by new technology that is driving the market development.”

From RM6,000 loans to reshaping regional financial access, CapBay’s next chapter is no longer about proving itself. It’s about helping others take their first leap, just like they did a decade ago.

For more behind-the-scenes moments and insights from Xing Xian’s journey, watch the full interview here on YouTube.