Chinese investors eye Indonesia’s P2P lending marketplace Investree for Series B

Indonesian peer-to-peer lending marketplace Investree announced recently that Chinese investors have initiated discussions for an investment in the company for its next Series B round.

If successful, the deal will become one of the first international investments in Indonesia’s fintech space. Previously, the startup has raised an undisclosed Series A round in 2016 from local venture capital Kejora which typically invest US$2 to US$5 million in their portfolio firms.

Founded in 2015, Investree connects lenders with borrowers who loan to invest for returns as well as those who require funds for personal use or funding businesses.

Its current growth drivers, however, have been B2B partnerships through the supply chain, invoice financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as employee loan financing for corporates, which have led to an increasing number of borrowers.

Investree’s active digital marketing has also increased the number of individual and retail lenders. For lenders, the P2P model is attractive as they can connect directly with businesses that can match their ideals while earning full interest paid by borrowers.

As of June 5, 2017, the startup has managed to disburse loans totaling up to INR 148 billion (about US$11 million) with an average funding period of five days and a 17.5 percent average rate of yield.

Moving forward, Investree’s co-founder and chairman Adrian Gunadi explained that the startup would continue to focus expanding in the B2B space through supply chain financing and partnerships with e-commerce platforms or traditional corporate companies.

It is also learned that the startup plans to expand its presence domestically in Semarang and Surabaya, as well as outside Indonesia, in Vietnam. It is also interested in launching a Shariah product, given the opportunity in Indonesia, and is currently in talks with the Shariah Council.

Meanwhile, the startup is currently looking to launch new offerings to support distributor financing and e-commerce supplier financing in Q3 2017.

Earlier last month, Investree has officially registered with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) as an Information-Technology-based Lending and Borrowing Service Provider.