Indonesian P2P lender Investree bags $23.5m to fuel Southeast Asia expansion

Indonesian peer-to-peer lending company Investree said it has secured the first tranche of its ongoing series C raise, raking in US$23.5 million in a round co-led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s venture unit, MUIP, and Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s BRI Ventures – the state-owned bank’s investment arm.

Japan’s SBI Holdings and China’s 9F Group, both investors in Investree’s series B fundraise, also participated in the new round, according to a statement.

Photo credit: bady qb / Unsplash

The money will go into further developing the company’s services and fueling its regional expansion strategy, said the startup. It also aims to fast-track its growth in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, which currently faces a US$430 billion credit gap, Investree said.

According to Investree co-founder and CEO Adrian Gunadi, the new capital will help the company support Indonesian small- and medium-sized enterprises affected by Covid-19.

“Our platform is robust and our financial position secure, thereby enabling us to navigate the current climate with confidence,” the head exec added.

Founded in 2015, Investree operates a lending marketplace for SMEs for both conventional and Shariah businesses. As of this month, the company claims to have recorded a total loan facility of 5.1 trillion rupiah (US$313.2 million) and has disbursed about US$235.2 million.

The startup first announced that it was raising a series C round in September last year. Gunadi had told KrAsia in an interview that the company had held talks with investors from Japan, China, and South Korea, some of the markets it was looking to enter.