Indonesian student loan-focused fintech platform Pintek has secured an investment from Rocket Internet-backed venture capital firm Global Founders Capital, according to a company statement.
DealStreetAsia first broke this deal news on October 24. Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed. However, sources pegged the investment round to be in the region of $2- 3 million. The round also values the startup at around $15 million, the sources added.
Pintek, a fintech platform that provides credit to consumers and education institutions, will deploy the funds towards driving technological and financial innovation.
The pre-Series A investment was received by SoCap, Pintek’s parent company.
GFC partner Tito Costa said, in the statement, “The team [Pintek] has identified a unique, holistic approach to education financing, working in partnership with educational institutions.”
Finch Capital and Amand Ventures also participated in the round. Previously, Finch Capital and Amand Ventures had invested in Pintek’s seed funding together with Japan-based venture capital firm, Strive.
Pintek aims to democratize access to education in Indonesia through affordable and flexible credit to consumers and institutions across the education sector. By servicing the entire education market (from K-12 to vocational to higher education and non-formal), Pintek can essentially service students throughout their education journey from ‘cradle-through-career’.
Since 2018, Pintek has partnered with close to 100 education institutions and has already disbursed loans to customers in 22 provinces in Indonesia. More than half of Pintek’s customers were first-time borrowers. The company will also launch its Syariah product next quarter.
GFC is a global seed and growth investor that has backed over five hundred entrepreneurs worldwide; including those behind Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Traveloka, Canva, and HelloFresh.
SoCap & Pintek co-founder and CEO Ioann Fainsilber said Pintek will use the proceeds to expand its technology platform and scale its commercial team. “Pintek has experienced explosive growth, particularly since our seed round earlier this year. From May to October, our monthly customers increased by more than 20x while retaining our default rate below 1%. We need to grow our team to meet customer demands and expand our product offering. We want to triple our technology and commercial teams in the next quarter” he explained.
Indonesia’s tech-enabled student loan space has seen some funding activity in recent years. We reported early this year that impact investor Patamar Capital has injected an undisclosed sum into Indonesia-based student loan platform Dana Cita. Dana Cita offers student loans to finance tertiary education and training. In August last year, Cicil, an Indonesian financing platform for university students, announced the closing of a Series A funding round led by East Ventures and Vertex Ventures.
