ParagonCorp arm pours funding into Indonesian Shariah fintech firm

Alami, an Indonesia-based Shariah fintech startup, has secured an undisclosed amount in a capital injection from Paragon Beneva Investama, an investment arm of local cosmetics firm ParagonCorp.

(From left) Alami co-founders Harza Sandityo, Dima Djani, and Bembi Juniar / Photo credit: Alami

The fresh capital will be used in Alami’s efforts to develop financial tech products, the company said in a statement. It also plans to expand access to Shariah-compliant financing that is “ethical, fair, transparent, and sustainable.”

Founded in 2018, Alami is a peer-to-peer lender that provides invoice financing to MSMEs in Indonesia. The company has disbursed over 3 trillion rupiah (over US$191 million) to fund over 10,000 MSME projects across various strategic sectors in the country.

Earlier this month, the company officially marked its venture into the banking realm by launching a mobile banking app named Bank Hijra, which is a product born out of its 2021 acquisition of Shariah-based rural bank BPRS Cempaka Al Amin.

See also: A new digital bank could instill VC faith in Indonesia’s Shariah fintech

Alami, together with new strategic investor ParagonCorp (which owns several halal brands such as Wardah, Emina, and Kahf), will be working together toward a shared goal of creating a halal lifestyle for its customers.

“ParagonCorp’s investment and superiority in building the empire of halal products help Alami continue to get more SMEs to access Shariah-based financing. The investment follows the launch of Bank Hijra earlier this December, which will be able to serve hundreds of millions of Indonesian Muslims,” Alami co-founder and CEO Dima Djani said.

In April 2022, Alami raised a debt facility worth US$30 million from Lendable, which it planned to disburse to SMEs across Indonesia. Before that, the company raised several funding rounds backed by VC firms such as EV Growth, AC Ventures, and Golden Gate Ventures.

Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 15,624 rupiah.