Bibit Secures 418 Billion Rupiah Funding Led by Sequoia Capital India

The online mutual fund platform Bibit announced further funding of $ 30 million or the equivalent of more than 418 billion Rupiah led by Sequoia Capital India. East Ventures, EV Growth, and 500 Startups participated in this round.

In the official statement, fresh funds will be used to develop services to encourage more novice investors in Indonesia.

Bibit's President Director, Sigit Kouwagam mentioned that user growth has increased significantly to over one million new participants during the past year. "This is due to the increased awareness and education are given to novice investors to save every month consistently and the importance of having good personal financial management principles," he said, Tuesday (1/5).

Based on IDX and KSEI data, the number of retail investors in Indonesia grew 56% YOY last year. This was partly because of the number of millennials with a growth of 92% new investors, from 21-40 years old. Although it has increased significantly, the participation of the Indonesian people in the capital market is still less than 2% at this time.

"We believe that all people deserve a better future. It helps to increase financial inclusion and driving investment practice in the right way is one way to do this. We are very proud to have Sequoia Capital India's support to pursue this mission."

On the same occasion, Sequoia Capital India's VP, Rohit Agarwal also said, “Globally, we see consumers starting to shift their savings from low-yield products, such as gold and property, to financial products with higher yields. In Indonesia, we see Bibit as a trusted investment platform that can help millions of Indonesians invest optimally."

East Ventures' Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Willson Cuaca added, “Stockbit and Bibit have shown very high growth in the retail investor segment where transaction value growth will increase more than 10 times in 2020. We believe this funding will boost Stockbit's growth and strengthen. their position as a leading investment platform."

In addition, Stockbit released Bibit in January 2019, through the acquisition of a majority stake in Bibit with an undisclosed value. Stockbit alone was originally started as an investment community platform to exchange ideas and stock news in real-time.

As part of the Stockbit Group, Bibit is the company's channel to reach novice investors with easy investments. Bibit utilizes Robo Advisor technology that adjusts products according to the user's risk profile and investment goals. It is claimed that 90% of Seed users come from millennials.

According to the survey results summarized in the 2020 Fintech Report, currently there are several investment applications targeting consumers. Seeds themselves are the investment application that gets the highest total awareness from survey respondents.

In terms of mutual funds, Bibit is currently in competition with other players, including Bareksa, Ajaib, and Bukalapak which will soon launch a subsidiary focused on investment products.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian