Financial technology (fintech) is rapidly growing in Indonesia. One popular fintech all around the world is crowdfunding. It is a method to finance a project or venture through a large number of usually small individual contributions from the public. It is usually done online due to the easy accessibility to a vast network of people. In Indonesia, crowdfunding is a relatively new concept. However, with a young tech-savvy population, and a cultural practice of ‘gotong-royong’ which means working together as a community, crowdfunding in Indonesia is picking up steam and has huge potential for a big push forward. Top 10 of Asia takes a brief look at Indonesia’s top 10 crowdfunding platforms (presented in no particular order).
Bizhare
Bizhare is a business investment platform through equity crowdfunding. Founded by Heinrich Vincent, its vision is to help more people to be financially free and increase economic growth in the country of Indonesia. Through Bizhare, people can open franchise businesses through crowdfunding on the website platform. Investors can check the company’s financial statement. Investors will automatically receive a suitable profit share. Bizhare was invited to be speakers at the Financial Service Authority (OJK) for Implementation Policy of Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism. It has also been recognised with many awards.
DANAdidik
Founded by Dipo Satria, DANAdidik’s mission is to provide an equal opportunity in higher education. It is a Peer-to-Peer Lending (debt crowdfunding) platform for student financing, connecting CSR, donors and impact investors who want to invest in education with students that are in need. It sets up what it calls a perpetual education fund—a financing structure that allows CSR and donation funds to finance students’ education. The repaid funds will be continuously recycled for future students. DANAdidik is aligned with the UN Sustainable Goals: 66% of their successfully funded students are first in the family to attend college. DANAdidik focuses on high employability majors such as healthcare professionals. It is one of 3 fintech student loan platforms registered with the OJK. DANAdidik is also supported by Indonesia’s Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education.
Mekar
Mekar’s journey began in early 2017 when it launched its online lending platform, https://mekar.id, with which it connects lenders from Indonesia and beyond with unbanked businesses that are in need of financing. Today, it has facilitated the financing of over 57,000 loans for small businesses, 95% to women, across 13 different provinces in the sprawling archipelago that is Indonesia. Mekar was founded by Putera Sampoerna and is fully supported by the Putera Sampoerna Foundation. Mekar’s mission is to improve access to finance to small businesses, grow businesses that create jobs and deliver good financial and social return on its lenders’ money. You can invest safely, earning you 11.5% per year, with a principal guarantee. Its crowdfunding platform acts as an online marketplace and matches lenders with borrowers. Mekar works with local lending institutions in many different parts of the country to find local small businesses to finance. Its lending partners also collect the loan repayment and provide a protection guarantee for its lenders’ money.
Kitabisa
Kitabisa was founded by Alfatih Timur in 2013. Kitabisa’s website, kitabisa.com has since become Indonesia’s most popular fundraising and donation platform for social causes. Since 2013 it has facilitated more than 13,000 campaigns, collecting IDR 300 bio donations from a >900k community. People who donate are fondly known as #orangbaik, meaning ‘good person’. Kitabisa is a shining example that the Internet can be used for good.
Akseleran
Founded by Ivan Tambunan, Akseleran is a peer-to-peer lending platform in Indonesia that connects small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that need lending to grow. Akseleran gives flexible loan agreements to entrepreneurs at competitive rates. It opens an opportunity to the public for lending at rates that commensurate with the risk they are taking.
Modalku
Modalku was co-founded by Reynold Wijaya and Iwan Kurniawan. It is a pioneer in Indonesian peer-to-peer lending. It aims to cultivate local business growth and shape the financial world to be more inclusive and innovative by giving loans to SMEs through crowdfunding from the public. Borrowers will receive interest rates based on the information provided by the website on what they choose to lend to. Applicants for loans have to meet certain requirements including their business being in operation for at least 1 year.
Tanifund
Tanifund was founded by Ivan Arie S. It noticed a huge problem of farmers not being able to get loans and aims to tackle it. Using Peer-to-Peer lending, TaniFund focuses on connecting agriculture stakeholders to working capital by utilizing a crowdfunding platform. TaniFund, a sister company of TaniHub, ensures farmers’ access to financial and technical supports.
Kolase
Kolase is a crowdfunding platform for creative ventures. How it works is that people can start a campaign on the platform about an idea and promote it. Funds will be raised and if it successfully meets the target, the idea will be executed and delivered. Those who fund it reap the rewards of making the idea a reality. Kolase works for albums, live events, brand extensions, books and many more.
Kopernik
Co-founded by Toshi Nakamura and Ewa Wojkowska, Kopernik is a company of constant innovation. It finds what works to reduce poverty by experimenting with potential solutions that address common challenges facing people living in the last mile. It achieves this through three core types of work including experimentation, last mile consulting and technology distribution. To fund these projects, Kopernik harnesses the power of crowdfunding. Donations have come from individuals and private businesses. Corporate funding has come from Exxon-Mobile, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the Daiwa Corporation.
GandengTangan
Registered and monitored by the OJK and co-founded by Jezzie Setiawan, GandengTangan connects micro-entrepreneurs with funders who want to make a positive social impact on their local community and business. GandengTangan offers an alternative to micro-entrepreneurs who often have to take loans with very high interests through traditional means. It focuses on short-term loans with transparency and interest rates that are agreeable to both the funders and entrepreneurs.
