Unlocking financial inclusion
Modalku was founded by two entrepeneurs - Kelvin Teo and Reynold Wijaya - who conceptualised their idea while studying at Harvard Business School in 2014. Their vision was to unlock financial inclusion by providing underserved yet creditworthy small businesses with fast and affordable financing enabled by technology.
With around 63 million businesses, potential in the Indonesian MSME market is enormous. According to a study conducted by financial consultant firm PwC, as much as 74 per cent of the MSMEs still don’t have adequate access to financing.
Established in 2016, Modalku connects MSMEs with retail and institutional lenders through a digital peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, harnassing technology and big data to provide working capital loans at competitive interest rates.
Senior investment officer Sagar Thakar: “We see in Modalku an innovative and mission-driven Fintech player to boost financial inclusion, which also plays an instrumental role in further developing fintech regulations in Indonesia.”
Modalku also operates in Singapore and Malaysia, under the name Funding Societies. Funding Societies has provided loans of around EUR 650 million to more than 1.1 million MSMEs across Southeast Asia.
Modalku co-founder and CEO Reynold Wijaya: “The funding from Triodos Investment Management marks a new milestone for us. Going forward, we want to reach far more MSMEs. We believe that expanding credit access will not only drive MSME growth but also benefit the economy and our societies.”