- Amartha secures $17.5M investment for MSME lending expansion.
- Indonesian P2P platform targets Southeast Asian growth.
- Company boasts $1.6B in loans to 2.5M businesses, mostly women-led.
Blast-off for bamboo fintech
Indonesian peer-to-peer lending platform Amartha has landed a $17.5 million investment from global nonprofit Accion.
This marks Amartha’s first equity round since its $28 million haul in 2021, co-led by MDI Ventures. Accion’s contribution stems from its $152.5 million Digital Transformation Fund, targeting financial institutions serving MSMEs across developing regions.
The fresh capital injection aims to supercharge Amartha’s product offerings for Indonesian MSMEs.
Additionally, it will fuel the company’s efforts to expand its customer base. Amartha’s current focus revolves around providing loans to unbanked Indonesians – predominantly women outside Java – by connecting them to willing investors.
Eyes on the Southeast Asian prize
Amartha is eyeing potential expansion throughout Southeast Asia, where microentrepreneurs face similar hurdles to those in Indonesia.
These challenges include limited credit access and low financial digital literacy. Amartha’s track record speaks volumes – it boasts over $1.6 billion in distributed working capital loans, benefiting more than 2.5 million businesses, primarily led by women.
To read the original article: https://www.techinasia.com/peertopeer-lending-firm-amartha-bags-175m-investment-nonprofit
