What does it really mean to grow through an internship? At FundingBee, we believe the best answer comes not from us, but from the people who've lived it.

We sat down with two of our former interns — Quin, a Malay university student who worked in our processing department, and Utana, a Japanese student who joined our marketing team while studying abroad in Malaysia. Different backgrounds, different roles, different starting points. But both left with something they didn't expect: a clearer sense of who they are and what they want to do.

Here are their stories.

More Than Just an Internship: Quin’s Experience Learning Real Business at FundingBee

Quin is a Malay university student who interned at FundingBee’s processing department from November 2025 to January 2026.

During her internship, she experienced firsthand how fintech and microfinance operations work in a fast-paced startup environment.

“The deciding factor was speed.”

The reason Quin chose the internship at FundingBee was actually quite simple.
At many companies, it can take more than a month to hear back after submitting an application. But FundingBee responded in just five days.

That quick response made it clear to her that this was a place where decisions are made quickly and business moves at speed.

Real Responsibilities from Day One

An internship at FundingBee is not just about supporting tasks.

Quin has been entrusted with real responsibilities, from reviewing loan applications and analysing bank transaction statements to managing parts of the financing execution process.

“I’m able to see the entire business process right in front of me, from document analysis all the way to financing execution,” she says.

She adds,
“It allows me to understand the ‘big picture’ of the business in a very clear and detailed way.”

This kind of hands-on exposure is what makes the internship more than just routine work. It becomes a practical and exciting learning experience.

An Open and Supportive Culture

After completing just one week of training, Quin quickly moved into real work.
Even so, she says she never felt anxious.

One of the main reasons is the open workplace culture.

“If there’s something I don’t understand, I can ask anyone at any time.”

She also mentions that she often has opportunities to speak directly with CEO Fumiko. She sees hearing about the company’s vision firsthand as a unique advantage of working at a startup of this scale.

FundingBee also organises internal events about once a month. During these gatherings, employees have many opportunities to interact casually with colleagues and even with the CEO, Fumiko, creating an environment where communication feels natural and easy.

Building a Strong Foundation for the Future

Through this internship, Quin gained practical experience in accounting, finance, and economics while also building a solid foundation in the fintech and microfinance industries.

Quin explains that her experience went beyond simply checking documents. By observing the entire financial process—from the initial analysis of loan applications to the final disbursement—she developed a clearer understanding of how money flows within a business.

In addition, working at FundingBee allowed her to see the bigger picture of how a company operates. In large organisations, it is often difficult to understand how different functions connect. At FundingBee, however, she was able to see how each part of the process contributes to creating value for businesses.

As she prepares to begin her career in the financial industry, this internship has become an important stepping stone. Rather than being limited to routine tasks, interns gradually take on meaningful responsibilities and gain practical insights into how businesses operate in the real world.

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From "I Want to Use English" to "I Want to Connect People": Discovering What She Really Wanted to Do in Malaysia

Meet Utana, a Japanese university student who interned at FundingBee's marketing department from January to March 2026. Utana came to Malaysia with a simple goal: to find her own direction. What she discovered along the way went far beyond the internship itself.

A Question That Wouldn't Go Away

As a Japanese student in an International Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology, Utana was part of a volunteer circle that travelled to Southeast Asia to help build homes for people in need. She had always been drawn to other cultures. But as job-hunting season approached, one question kept circling in her mind: What do I actually want to do?

Utana had interned at a Japanese company before. The environment was well-organised, and she followed instructions, but she had difficulty seeing how her work connected to the bigger picture. She often felt like she was on the outside looking in.

To find her own direction, she made the bold choice to take a leave of absence and head to Malaysia.

No Roadmap, No Precedent — Jumping In Anyway

Taking a leave from university to study abroad in Malaysia was practically unheard of in her department. She had to step away from her seminar group. But Utana was driven by a clear conviction: I don't want to do this just to job-hunt. I want to do something that shapes my entire career.

Utana travelled to Malaysia and studied liberal arts at Sunway University. Once she had finally regained her composure, she came across BeeInformatica (FundingBee) through a study abroad agency. What drew her in wasn't just the internship itself — it was the CEO, Fumiko. She had a clear mission and a genuine desire to help others, and she embraced the flow between Japan and Malaysia with real joy. Utana instinctively thought: I want to work alongside this person.

From day one, the pace was intense. Emails got straight to the point. Conversations skipped the formalities she was used to in Japan. It took time to adjust, but the workplace was refreshingly flat — approachable, warm, and collaborative. When she didn't know what to do, she said so, and she always got a response.

Language was another challenge. Some clients had strong accents that made communication difficult. Rather than struggling through in English, Utana learned to ask local colleagues for help in Malay. It was humbling — but it worked. She came to understand that admitting what you can't do, and asking for support, often leads to better outcomes than going it alone.

What This Experience Taught Her About Work

The moment that stayed with Utana the most was conducting a customer interview. She secured the appointment herself, prepared her questions, and sat across from a business owner who walked her through how FundingBee had helped them grow. What had been abstract — customer success, business impact — suddenly became vivid and real. She could feel why satisfaction led to loyalty. And she thought, "I want to create more of this."

That experience shifted something in how Utana sees work. She used to think her career goal was simple: to use English professionally and work globally. Now she realises English is just a tool. What she actually wants to do is connect people from different backgrounds and build something new from that intersection. Working across cultures — navigating the friction, then feeling the breakthrough — is what energises her.

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The dream of working internationally hasn't changed. But now Utana wants to first sharpen what she has to offer, then bring it to the world. Her time in Malaysia was a continuous question: Who am I, and what do I want to do? The answer is still forming — but it's clearer than it's ever been.

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This is just one piece of the picture. See what's shaping the SME funding landscape — browse all our latest updates. Read more articles

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