Seedlings Have Fresh Funds of More than 1,1 Trillion Rupiah Led by GIC

Platform wealthtech Bibit announced that it had raised over $80 million (over 1,1 trillion Rupiah) in funding in a round led by GIC Private Limited (GIC). This round was also followed by Prosus Ventures and other previous investors has supported Seeds.

Previously, news about the entry of GIC into Bibit had been heard since February 2022. GIC is an investment fund institution for the Singapore government. Bukalapak and Bank Jago are one of its portfolios in Indonesia.

Seeds will use the fresh funds to launch new products and services, develop technology, recruit the best talent, and strengthen educational programs to increase investment penetration that is currently booming in Indonesia.

Bibit Co-founder & CEO Sigit Kouwagam said, "We believe that everyone deserves a better future. Bibit is here to help Indonesians participate in the capital market and achieve their financial goals by investing in the right ways.

"We are very enthusiastic about welcoming GIC as our new investor and very pleased with the investor partners who have been supporting us to accelerate this mission," he said in an official statement, Wednesday (25/5).

Seedlings started their work in early 2019 after Stockbit acquired, a service for investors to share ideas about stock investing, news and information online real-time. The Seed Platform is designed as "robo-advisor" mutual funds in Indonesia, helping investors to have portfolios according to their risk profile and investment objectives. From the data provided, 90% of Bibit users are millennial investors who previously had no experience in investing.

It is claimed, to date, Bibit has helped millions of investors, mostly millennials and novice investors, in 500 cities in Indonesia to build investment portfolios based on their risk profile and financial goals in a safe, simple and easy way.

Over the past year, the company has recorded several achievements, among them the launch Stockbit Securities, an e-IPO feature that allows users to participate in the 100% IPO process online. In addition, there was also the inauguration of the Stockbit Academy as a means for the public to learn stocks for free from experienced financial mentors. And, appointed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia as Distribution Partner (Midis) of Selling Government Securities (SBN) in early 2022.

Based on data from the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI), the number of mutual fund investors in Indonesia grew by 80,3% (YoY) from 4,41 million investors in April 2021 to 7,95 million in April. 2022.

Meanwhile, in the same period, the number of stock investors increased by 66,7% (YoY) and has touched 3,83 million investors. The growth was supported by the surge in the number of retail investors. More than half of these investors are claimed to use Seed and Stockbit as investment applications. Despite the significant growth, it should be noted that the number of people who invest in the capital market is still below 4% of the total population.

His closest competitor, Pluang, previously announced the acquisition of funding earlier this year of $55 million led by Accel. Then followed by other investors, including Trung Nguyen, Andy Ho, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, and Jeffrey Zirlin (founder of Axie Infinity), BRI Ventures, Gold House, along with previous investors consisting of Square Peg, Go-Ventures, UOB Venture Management, and Openspace Ventures, and others.

In addition there is also a Magic that has been officially become unicorn after closing a $153 million series B funding round.