OFTEN neglected by banks, smaller businesses have struggled to land the financing they need. Now, technology, data and liquidity have opened up big opportunities for alternative lenders to step in. Yet these lenders will themselves soon be put to the test, with the ongoing pandemic putting immense strain on companies across the board. Can they continue to step up to the task of keeping small businesses in business?

In Brunch this Saturday in The Business Times Weekend, we talk to three players in the alternative financing sector to find out how they plug the gap for SMEs, and how they are bracing for the downturn ahead.

Cloud services have become a must-have, and not just a nice-to-have element of business today, as companies find themselves flooded with data in their everyday operations. The forced digitalisation brought on by Covid-19 curbs has only crystallised such needs. In The Raffles Conversation, Alibaba Group vice-president Lancelot Guo talks to us about the Chinese juggernaut's expansion in the cloud business.