Fintech platform Investree’s expansion to Philippines, Thailand on track this year

SCREENGRAB from https://investree.id/

JAKARTA — Financial technology (fintech) platform PT Investree Radhika Jaya has announced that its plans to expand its market to Thailand and the Philippines through joint ventures are on track despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Investree cofounder and CEO Adrian Gunadi said on Wednesday that the company expected to complete the expansion by the second or third quarter of this year.

“We are in the process of obtaining a license in the Philippines while we are in the final stages of licensing in Thailand. So, there is no change of plans,” he told the press through a video conference.

He went on to say that the licensing process in the Philippines might take longer than planned as a result of a nationwide lockdown to curb COVID-19 implemented on March 16. However, Adrian said he was optimistic that it could be completed by September.

The expansion was made possible, he added, by the first trench of series C funding worth US$23.5 million the company closed in mid-March. The funds will also be used to expand Investree’s business in Indonesia, including in e-procurement and electronic invoicing.

The investment was led by MUIP, the corporate venture arm of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Indonesia’s BRI Ventures.

“We are also in talks with other potential investors, so we can expect the value to be higher,” Adrian said.

He added that the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending company had exceeded its first-quarter loan disbursement target to 104 percent. The company has disbursed Rp 588 billion ($36.24 million) in loans so far this year.

He also predicted an increase in working capital for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially from vendors supplying health necessities such as hospital beds and gloves, adding that the company would focus on funding SMEs in the healthcare industry in the second quarter this year.

“I believe Investree can be resilient during this pandemic because we are well-capitalized,” he said.

Previously, Investree partnered with private lender PT Bank Danamon Indonesia to allow SMEs to borrow loans worth between Rp 200 million and Rp 2 billion.

P2P platforms have contributed Rp 60 trillion to the country’s GDP as of June 2019, primarily through SMEs, according to a study by think tank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) and the Indonesian Fintech Lenders Association (AFPI).