What Micro Connect does

Micro Connect (滴灌通集团) is a Hong Kong-headquartered financial market infrastructure company founded in 2021 by former HKEX CEO Charles Li and East-Asia Finance founder Gary Zhang. The company operates the Micro Connect Macao Financial Asset Exchange (MCEX), the world's first licensed exchange for daily revenue-sharing instruments, regulated by the Macau SAR government and designated as Key Infrastructure Operator in April 2024. Its core innovation is the Daily Revenue Contract (DRC) / Daily Revenue Obligation (DRO) instrument — neither equity nor debt — which enables Chinese micro and small businesses (12,000+ stores invested across 280+ cities) to access non-dilutive growth capital in exchange for a pre-agreed percentage of daily revenues until a return target is met, with investors receiving automated daily cash distributions via the proprietary ARM (Automated Repayment Mechanism) system.

The platform architecture combines blockchain-backed transaction recording on MCEX, the Micro Star (滴灌之星) operating system (RBO/SPV/SPAC/ETF/RBU components), and the MAP (MCEX Market Accepted Protocol) standardized valuation framework introducing metrics such as Price-to-Net Contract Payout Ratio and Contract Cashflow Risk Ratio. Revenue is generated through three streams: (1) listing and transaction fees on DRO secondary market activity on MCEX, (2) management fees on investment vehicles including MIFC (Micro Connect International Investment), and (3) lending spreads on credit facilities from HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, and Bank of China Macau deployed into DRC investments. Go-to-market relies on a dual-sided marketplace model with 688+ brand/chain partners serving as origination channels on the asset side and 50+ institutional investor members (banks, asset managers, hedge funds, PE/VC, family offices) on the capital side.

Cumulative equity funding of approximately $593 million across Series A ($50M, Nov 2021), Series B ($70M, Mar 2022), and Series C ($458M, Aug 2023) supported a $1.7 billion post-money valuation and unicorn status. As of 2024, cumulative investment volume exceeded 46 billion RMB with 10.85 billion RMB distributed to investors. The company employs 251-500 staff across Hong Kong (headquarters), Macau (regulated subsidiary), and Shenzhen (technology hub), and in December 2025 announced the shelving of its MIFC HKEX listing application in favor of a private fund structure alongside full deployment of its 3.0 AI-native operating system in 2026.

Name

Micro Connect

Legal name

Micro Connect Group Limited

Website

https://microconnect.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Micro Connect operates MCEX, the world's first licensed daily revenue-sharing exchange, connecting global institutional capital with Chinese micro/small businesses through DRO instruments that provide non-dilutive financing in exchange for daily revenue shares, with 12,000+ stores invested across 280+ cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Financial Exchange

NAICS

Sales Financing (52222), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) Marketplaces (FSAKAHAI)

Keywords

• Daily revenue sharing
• MSME financing platform
• Alternative asset exchange
• Revenue-based contracts
• Financial market infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Central

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Exchange Listing and Transaction Fees: MCEX charges listing fees to small businesses seeking financing on the exchange, as well as transaction fees on each trade of DROs and DRPs executed on the platform. Revenue is volume-based and scales with market activity.
2. Investment Management Fees (MIFC and Other Funds): MIFC (Micro Connect International Investment) and other fund vehicles managed by the group charge management fees to institutional LP investors. The group committed $100M of its own capital to MIFC's first LP tranche.
3. Lending Spreads on Credit Facilities: The company deploys borrowed capital (from HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, Bank of China Macau, and other financial institution partners) into small business DRC investments, earning the spread between borrowing costs and investment returns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Micro Connect operates a licensed financial asset exchange (MCEX) in Macau that connects global institutional capital with Chinese micro/small businesses through a proprietary Daily Revenue Contract (DRC/DRO) model. Small businesses list daily revenue-sharing obligations on the exchange to access non-dilutive growth capital, while institutional investors purchase these standardized revenue-based assets to gain exposure to diversified Chinese consumer-economy cash flows with daily distributions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 滴灌通澳交所 (Micro Connect Macao Financial Asset Exchange, MCEX): The world's first licensed daily revenue-sharing exchange, established in Macau in 2023. It provides financial asset trading services connecting global capital with Chinese MSMEs through daily revenue-sharing products (DROs).
• 滴灌通引领基金 (Micro Connect Leading Fund)
• 滴灌之星 (Micro Star)
• MAP (MCEX Market Accepted Protocol)

Products and services

• MCEX — Micro Connect Macao Financial Asset Exchange (滴灌通澳交所) The core licensed exchange platform where small/micro businesses list Daily Revenue Obligations (DROs) and institutional investors trade them. Operates as a neutral Transactional Counter Party (TCP) that records, routes, and clears transactions without holding assets, making decisions, or touching funds.
• DRO / DRC — Daily Revenue Obligation / Daily Revenue Contract (每日收入分成凭证 / 合约) A daily revenue-sharing investment instrument in which investors fund small/micro businesses and receive a pre-agreed percentage of daily revenue until a return target is met. Neither equity nor debt — businesses access growth capital without dilution or fixed repayment obligations. Average duration ~42 months; average payback ~21 months.
• Micro Star (滴灌之星) MCEX's comprehensive digital market operating system for the small-business investment market. Comprises five structural elements: RBO (Revenue Based Obligation), SPV (Single Portfolio Vehicle), SPAC (Segregated Portfolio Accounts Collective), ETF (Exchange Traded Facility), and RBU (Revenue Based Unit). Enables digitalized, high-frequency, granular market infrastructure.
• MAP — MCEX Market Accepted Protocol (滴灌通澳交所通用标准) Proprietary disclosure and valuation standard framework for small-business revenue-sharing assets, analogous to a P/E ratio for equities. Introduces metrics including Cashflow Risk Ratio (收付款风险率) and Price-to-Net Contract Payout Ratio (市转率) to enable standardized risk assessment and pricing.
• MIFC — Micro Connect International Investment (滴灌投资) Professional investment company designed as an Originate-to-Distribute central kitchen that procures cashflow rights contracts, packages them into ABS products (RWC), and distributes standard tranches to offshore financial market participants.
• Micro Connect 3.0 AI Operating System (滴灌通 3.0 AI 操作系统) AI-native operating system comprising three engines: investment algorithm engine (Micro Navigation Map / 滴灌导航图), digital customer acquisition engine, and next-generation fund allocation/clearing engine. Uses nine-step intelligent path design connecting people, capital, location, and tools for efficient asset screening, matching, and execution.
• ARM — Automated Repayment Mechanism (自动回款机制) Digital system embedded in small-business payment and banking infrastructure that automatically captures daily revenue data and executes daily cash distribution to investors. Connects to POS systems, SaaS platforms, bank accounts, and payment providers (Alipay, WeChat Pay, 11 settlement banks) to monitor and collect daily income in real time.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average payback period of approximately 21 months across portfolio (1.55 yuan daily return per 1,000 yuan invested)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability9 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• RiverchaincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2026Riverchain is a Hong Kong-based fintech providing working capital solutions for construction companies. The strategic partnership enables development of working capital assets for construction contractors and secures dedicated funding commitments from Micro Connect. The partnership is designed around project cycles rather than traditional loan constraints, opening Micro Connect's capital channel to Hong Kong's construction industry.
• Choco UpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2024Choco Up is Asia's largest Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) platform. The strategic partnership enables e-commerce businesses to issue DROs on MCEX, provides secondary market liquidity for RBF products, achieves system integration between MCEX and Choco Up platforms for real-time daily revenue data sharing, and supports RBF fund/focused account creation on the exchange. Choco Up is the first overseas ecosystem partner of MCEX, expanding the platform to Southeast Asia and beyond.
• China Chengxin Green Finance International (中诚信绿金国际)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 October 2023A strategic cooperation on green finance, inclusive finance, and ESG. China Chengxin Green Finance International, a subsidiary of China Chengxin Group specializing in sustainable finance and ESG, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to collaborate on ESG standards, green finance product development, and disclosure practices for Micro Connect's social finance framework.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Choco Up: Asia's largest revenue-based financing (RBF) platform for e-commerce businesses. Most direct comparable to Micro Connect's daily revenue-sharing model; in fact a strategic partner with system integration on MCEX.
• Clearco: Global revenue-based financing platform providing non-dilutive capital to e-commerce and SaaS SMBs based on revenue share. Closely aligned business model (revenue share rather than traditional debt) for the same MSME/SMB customer base.
• Wayflyer: Revenue-based financing company funding e-commerce merchants with daily revenue-share repayments. Highly analogous financing mechanics and SMB customer profile to Micro Connect's DRC/DRO contracts.
• Pipe: Platform converting recurring revenue streams into tradable assets for SMBs. Direct counterpart in the venture-backed RBF space, with a marketplace model linking SMBs to capital providers for revenue-linked instruments.
• Kapitus: Revenue-based and alternative financing provider for SMBs in North America, including merchant cash advance and revenue-share products. Comparable SMB financing role to Micro Connect's asset-side origination.
• Funding Circle: UK/US-listed peer-to-peer / marketplace lending platform targeting small businesses. Direct comparable as a two-sided marketplace connecting SMB borrowers with institutional/retail capital via a regulated platform.
• LendingClub: US marketplace lender originating loans and credit to SMBs and consumers through a regulated online platform. Similar marketplace architecture and credit underwriting focus on underbanked small borrowers.

Broad incumbents

• Ant Group / MYbank: China's largest fintech conglomerate operating SMB lending (MYbank/Ant Credit Pay) and digital asset/asset management platforms. Broader portfolio than Micro Connect but operates a comparable Chinese SMB financing franchise with regulatory scale.
• Lufax Holding: Largest Chinese online SMB financing marketplace with retail wealth management platform. Direct geographic overlap with Micro Connect's asset-side SMB customer base, though operates a broader retail-lending model.
• Stripe Capital: Embedded financing arm of Stripe that offers revenue-based and cash-advance funding to SMB merchants using Stripe payments data. Strong architectural analogy to Micro Connect's ARM-captured payments data feeding into funding decisions, within Stripe's broader payments platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/micro-connect-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors15 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Micro Connect