(From left) Alami co-founders Harza Sandityo, Dima Djani, and Bembi Juniar / Photo credit: Alami
Indonesia-based Hijra, a Shariah fintech firm formerly known as Alami, has axed a number of jobs to help it ensure its long-term sustainability.
The company did not specify the exact number of those affected by what it called an “organization rightsizing,” but it said that the layoff is “the most challenging decision the management has ever made.”
In a statement, the company explained that it had retained all its employees during the Covid-19 crisis, but “circumstances have evolved” since then, which led to the retrenchment. Nevertheless, the startup assured that this step would not affect its products or services.
Founded in 2018, Hijra holds licenses for Islamic peer-to-peer lending and digital banking, the latter of which was launched under the Hijra Bank entity in December 2022.
Before becoming a digital bank, Hijra Bank was a Shariah-compliant rural bank named Cempaka Al-Amin, which Alami then acquired in 2021. In March this year, the digibank reported that its transaction volume had grown 3x compared to the previous three months.
Hijra as a whole has secured a total of US$67.6 million in funding, with the most recent investment coming from ParagonCorp in December 2022. As of the first quarter of 2023, Hijra said it has disbursed about US$300 million in financing to over 10,000 SMEs across Indonesia.
See also: Indonesia’s ascent to the top of global Islamic fintech faces obstacles
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Dhania Putri Sarahtika
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