KoinWorks Soon to Acquire Software Developers for R&D in Yogyakarta

KoinWorks announces acquisition plan software development house in Yogyakarta as the center research and development (R&D) and further development of existing features. The name of the company is not mentioned, but it is confirmed that it is already in the deal.

KoinWorks Co-Founder and CEO Benedicto Haryono explained that this step was part of the company's massive investment after the acquisition. series A+ pendanaan funding from Quona Capital earlier this year.

"This year we will invest heavily, if we want to expand our business, we need to add more scope activity. System back end want to be strengthened, more automated so that it can be more efficient and have good control. Application to beredesign UI/UX," said Benedicto, Wednesday (27/3).

All of these new activities are expected to support the company in reaching its target of disbursing funds this year at Rp2,2 trillion. At the beginning of its operation, KoinWorks was quite conservative because the p2p lending industry was still relatively new in Indonesia.

The cumulative total disbursement at KoinWorks from October 2016 to March 2019 reached Rp900 billion with an NPL of 0,44%. Benedicto said that on average the company distributes around Rp. 150 billion per month.

"Per month, our overall business grows 15%-30%. More than 90% is contributed from the distribution of Business Coins. Smart Coins are still quite small."

Koin Bisnis is the main product of KoinWorks which is a productive loan for SME players who have online stores, employees, supply chain leaders, and business loans. The nominal starts from IDR 5 million to IDR 2 billion. Interest rates are adjusted according to a score that is measured based on the level of risk. The range starts from 9%-20% per year.

In order to expand the Business Coins business, the company is testing out lending to the tourism industry. Currently, KoinWorks chooses SME players who are engaged in tourism accommodation. Other business segments will be selected first because they do not necessarily match the company's preferences.

"We were inspired by Mr. President Jokowi's encouragement. The tourism industry is broad in its segment, not only about flights, hotels, or recreation. We are still testing this segment for SMEs engaged in accommodation in Java."

Other products owned by KoinWorks are Smart Coin (for education) and Healthy Coins. According to Benedicto, for a certain period of time, Koin Sehat will not be developed further because it is considered to lack significant potential in the future.

"It's not closed, but we decided not to market it. The decision was because we saw where the big business potential was, then concentrated it resource us to develop."

KoinWorks has six thousand borrowers, around 50%-60% of whom are active borrowers. The number of lenders now reaches 120 thousand people and there are five borrowers from financial institutions, both from within and outside the country.

"The target this year is that we want 500 thousand funders to join KoinWorks. In addition, we want to increase the number of institutions because the most important thing is re-balancing. Not target there is also what is important, there must be value for both parties," he concluded.