Rural bank-focused Komunal posts $118m in transaction volume for Q1

From left: Komunal co-founders Rico Tedyono, Hendry Lieviant, and Kendrick Winoto / Photo credit: Komunal

Komunal, an Indonesia-based fintech firm that focuses on serving rural community banks, recorded a 3.5x year-on-year growth in MSME deposits and loan transactions, reaching 1.75 trillion rupiah (US$118.6 million) in the first quarter of 2023.

The firm has also partnered with around 250 out of nearly 1,500 rural banks in Indonesia for its DepositoBPR product, Komunal co-founder and CEO Hendry Lieviant said in a recent presentation.

In 2021, Komunal launched DepositoBPR, which allows customers to place their funds in rural bank deposits while simultaneously enabling these banks to allocate capital towards MSMEs.

So far, the rural banks that Komunal works with have provided financial access to 11,500 MSMEs, and 30% of them are women-owned enterprises.

The fintech startup aims to process US$8 billion in deposits and loans in the next five years and generate US$240 million in annual group revenue, an increase from the current US$4.8 million.

“Our lending business is profitable, though our new businesses are burning cash. However, the burn is manageable, thus we are not raising money like crazy,” Lieviant said in a previous interview with Tech in Asia.

Komunal has raised US$11.3 million in venture funding, including US$8.5 million in a series B round led by East Ventures earlier this year.

See also: Indonesia has 1,500 rural banks. Komunal is bringing them online

Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 14,755 rupiah.