Indonesian Digital Investment App Bibit Raises New US$80 Million Funding

TheIndonesia.id - Digital investment app Bibit has announced that it has raised more than US$80 million in a funding round led by GIC Private Limited (GIC), a global investment firm based in Singapore. The funding round was also joined by Prosus Ventures and other investors who had previously supported Bibit.

Bibit CEO & Co-founder Sigit Kouwagam believes that everyone deserves a better future. "Bibit is here to help Indonesians participate in the capital market and achieve their financial goals by investing in the right ways. We are very enthusiastic about welcoming GIC as our new investor and very pleased with our partner investors who have supported us to accelerate this mission," said Kouwagam in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

Bibit will use the funding to launch new products and services, develop technology, recruit the best talents in Indonesia and strengthen various financial education programs to create a culture of investment awareness in the community. Starting as a platform for investors to share investment ideas, news, and real-time information, Stockbit launched Bibit in early 2019.

As a pioneer of mutual fund robo-advisory applications in Indonesia, Bibit continues to innovate in its products and services to democratize investment in the capital market, while enabling its users to diversify their investments into various asset classes. To date, Bibit has helped millions of investors, mostly millennials and novice investors, in 500 cities in Indonesia to build investment portfolios based on their risk profiles and financial goals in a safe, simple and easy way.

Over the past year, the company has recorded several achievements, including the launch of Stockbit Sekuritas, an e-IPO feature that allows users to participate in the IPO process that is 100 percent online, the inauguration of the Stockbit Academy as a means for people to learn stocks for free from experienced financial mentors, and appointed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia as a Distribution Partner (Midis) for the sale of Government Securities (SBN) in early 2022.

Based on data from the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI), the number of mutual fund investors in Indonesia grew by 80.3 percent (YoY) from 4.41 million investors in April 2021 to 7.95 million in April 2022. Meanwhile, in the same period, the number of stock investors increased by 66.7 percent (YoY) and has touched 3.83 million investors.

The growth was mainly contributed by retail investors, where more than half of those investors used Seed and Stockbit as investment applications. Despite the significant growth, the number of people who invest in the capital market is still below 4 percent of the total Indonesian population.