ALAMI Pockets Pre-Series B Funding, Led by East Ventures

Startups p2p lending platforms sharia NATURAL Group announced the acquisition of pre-series B funding led by East Ventures, through growth funds. No mention of the amount received by the company in this round. A number of investors from the previous round participated, including AC Ventures, Quona Capital, and FEBE Ventures.

There is a new investor who enters, namely Capria Ventures, a United States-based VC. This investment that they disburse marks their first debut for the Asia Pacific region.

ALAMI will use the fresh funds to strengthen its business base by providing better access to financing and financial services and following the principles of Islam in Indonesia. The trick is to continue to create world-class sharia-based financial technology.

In an official statement delivered today (10/10), ALAMI Group Founder and CEO Dima Djani said this pre-series B round was a strong validation and support from investors for the positive impact that ALAMI created in Indonesia. ALAMI Group has long-term potential by opening access to Islamic banking and financing, one of which is through Hijra Bank to connect 230 million Muslims and MSMEs in Indonesia.

“We will be committed to continuing to provide more energy and resources going forward. We have great confidence in the market potential that can be served by our products and services," said Dima.

East Ventures Managing Partner Roderick Purwana also said, Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance and banking industry. "We strongly believe that the strong expertise and integrity of Dima and his team, evidenced by the company's positive growth and exceeded targets, will continue to develop and empower the banking industry in Indonesia, driving the pace of financial inclusion towards sustainability," he said.

Dima continued, Indonesian MSMEs have gradually recovered from the pandemic, but in fact there are still financing needs and access to financing for MSMEs reaching $108 billion. P2P lending offers a quick and easy financial loan solution as a new solution.

NATURAL business growth

Since its establishment in 2019, ALAMI has disbursed Rp3,5 trillion with an NPF of 0% and a Payment Success Rate (TKB90) reaching 100%. ALAMI has more than 111 thousand investors p2p loans involved in 10 MSME projects, which focus on exponential growth for Indonesian MSMEs.

This good performance is claimed because it is supported by a series of financing products at ALAMI which are able to reduce the NPF rate and cooperation with BPRS for channeling and referral financing.

The collaboration between ALAMI and BPRS can be an opportunity for BPRS to channel financing to MSME actors to various sectors using the account receivable (AR) financing method, purchase order (PO) financing, and ecosystem financing, of course using a sharia contract. Maintaining the NPF rate is one of the challenges in BPRS. Based on OJK Islamic banking statistics as of February 2022, the NPF of BPRS is at the level of 7,27%.

Of the 165 BPRS in Indonesia, the company has collaborated with 11 BPRS for financing with the channeling and referral with a total ceiling of IDR 108 billion. The financing is channeled to various industries, such as: human resources, logistics, healthcare, halal food, and IT.

ALAMI has several financing products, including Account Receivable (AR) Financing, Account Payable (AP) Financing, and Ecosystem Financing. In the AR Financing method, financing is intended for MSMEs who have completed projects/works and have made billing to the employer (client), but have not made payment. Through this product, the MSMEs are still able to ensure cash flow and can do other work without worrying about late payment.

While in the AP Financing method, financing is provided based on invoice financing published by beg to recipients of financing. ALAMI also distributes financing using the Ecosystem Financing method, namely ecosystem-based financing to members of an ecosystem.

Ecosystem members are individuals who carry out certain business activities for economic independence. The process of submitting to end-to-end financing disbursement is carried out through a digital platform, so that the process that is passed by potential recipients of financing becomes faster and easier.

The ALAMI team has now reached more than 484 people spread across various cities in Indonesia, as well as abroad, such as Singapore, England, and the United States, all of whom are Indonesian nationals. At the beginning, the ALAMI team consisted of 38 people.