Investree bags $23.5m in first tranche of Series C led by BRI Ventures, MUFG unit

Photo: Investree co-founder and CEO Adrian Gunadi

Indonesia, April 09, 2020

Indonesian P2P firm Investree has secured $23.5 million as the first tranche of its Series C funding round led BRI Ventures and MUFG Innovation Partners, the corporate venture arm of Japan’s banking conglomerate MUFG Bank, it announced on Wednesday.

Existing investors, China’s 9F Fintech Holdings Group and Japan’s SBI Holdings, also participated in the Series C round. The firm previously secured Series B fundingfrom Mandiri Capital Indonesia, Persada Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, and previous backer Kejora Ventures. The financial details of the round were not disclosed.

The funding will be used to accelerate its business in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to support SMEs in the region and to strengthen its working capital. Investree connects lenders, who want to invest their money to earn returns, to borrowers who seek personal or business loans. “We are currently in talks for the possibility of [raising the] second tranche fundraising with several investors. We havebegun the discussion since earlier this year,” Investree CEO Adrian Gunadi said.

In an interview with DealStreetAsia last month, the firm said it had expanded its operations in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. It has forged a partnership with the Philippines conglomerate Filinvest Development Corporation in 2019 and set up a joint venture in Thailand early this year with undisclosed local partners. The firm also purchased a minority stake in Lippo-backed e-procurement startup Mbiz in December last year.

In 2018, the company expanded its operations in Vietnam by purchasing a 10 per cent stake in local fintech firm eLoan. However, subsequently, its plan to acquire another fintech firm or increase its stake in eLoan has been delayed as it awaits regulatory clarity. “We are in the process of securing a fintech license in the second quarter for the Philippines. As for Thailand, we are actually in the final stage of submission to the regulator. We are also finalizing to partner with global payment platform 2C2P,” Gunadi added.

The company reportedly has 1,239 borrowers and 8,574 lenders on its platform. It also claims to hold a 30 per cent market share in Indonesia. In early April, Investree recorded a total loan of Rp 5.11 trillion ($313.74 million) and a disbursed loan of around Rp 3.83 trillion ($235.57 million). The number of fintech startups has mushroomed in Indonesia over the past few years, which include prominent names in SMEs lending such as Modalku, Amartha, and Koinworks. Of these, only Investreeand Modalku so far have a presence beyond Indonesia.

Source: DealstreetAsia