P2P lender KoinWorks bags $1.4m from Japan’s Saison Capital

Indonesian peer-to-peer lending platform KoinWorks has received around US$1.4 million in additional funding from Saison Capital, the venture arm of Japanese financial services firm Credit Saison, as part of its series B round.

The new funds bring KoinWorks’ total series B and B2 raise to about US$13.6 million. It raised US$12.2 million in June in a round led by fintech-focused venture capital firm Quona Capital and Singapore’s EV Growth.

Photo credit: KoinWorks

Founded in 2016, the company connects investors with borrowers through its platform, providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an alternative to traditional financial institutions.

KoinWorks plans to use the fresh funds to develop new financial products to support digital SMEs, especially those in social commerce.

“Sixty-five percent of the gross domestic product in Indonesia is contributed by SMEs and 92% of these SMEs have been utilizing social networks to run their business,” said KoinWorks co-founder and CEO Benedicto Haryono. “Ironically, many social commerce SMEs have obstacles in receiving loans to grow their business due to limited documents, collateral, and other business requirements needed by conventional financial institutions.”

See also: Indonesian P2P lender KoinWorks says it’s nearly profitable, has disbursed $140m in loans

Earlier this year, the company said that it plans to use the series B money to expand its team, develop partnerships, and improve its platform.

Haryono also previously told Tech in Asia that part of the funds raised will be used for marketing and technology, as the firm aims to acquire about 2 million users in the next two years.

According to him, KoinWorks is close to profitability and has recently hit 200 billion rupiah (US$14 million) in disbursements per month, with non-performing loans staying below 1%.

Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 14,014.25 rupiah.