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View all search resultsStart-up AwanTunai secures $8.5 million
The firm plans to use the funds to provide more credit for partnered suppliers and retailers.
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S
tart-up AwanTunai announced on Friday raising US$8.5 million in fresh funds to expand its operations to more suppliers and small retailers in Indonesia.
The funding was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with participation from existing investors Global Brain, Insignia Ventures Partners and OCBC NISP Ventura.
AwanTunai provides online procurement and purchase order financing for small retailers, particularly warung (kiosks), to get fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs). It also provides inventory-tracking software and financing for partnered suppliers.
“We hope AwanTunai becomes the platform that enables the entire Indonesian banking industry to reach the millions of traditional small and medium enterprises [SMEs] that have previously been difficult to serve”, said AwanTunai chief executive Dino Setiawan.
The start-up would use the funds, in particular, to provide more credit for partnered suppliers and retailers, Dino said, adding that the data compiled in AwanTunai’s system could help partner banks evaluate the credit risk of SMEs.
Founded in 2017, AwanTunai has raised a total of $89 million in five funding rounds since November 2018, according to publicly available data compiled by Crunchbase.
The company said it worked with more than 300 suppliers as of July 2021 to provide goods to over 70,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in many major cities across Indonesia. Banking partners include Bank Danamon and OCBC.
The retail industry is dominated by small retailers and warung. Together with the wholesale industry it accounts for 18 percent of Indonesia’s GDP and employs 19 percent of the workforce, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
“Growth of this vital sector has also been hampered by a lack of access to finance, and more recently by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment will provide much-needed support to micro-retailers while helping them modernize and grow their businesses,” said IFC Indonesia and Timor-Leste country manager Azam Khan.
Insignia founding managing partner Yinglan Tan said AwanTunai had diversified from providing purchase order financing to meeting the operational needs of retailers and suppliers.
He said AwanTunai had the potential to evolve into a “full-stack operating and financial platform for underserved MSMEs.”
