Indonesia-based digital mortgage platform IDEAL announced Wednesday that it has raised a $3.8 million pre-seed funding round co-led by AC Ventures and Alpha JWC.
The startup will use the capital injection to focus on product development, hiring, and expanding its offerings, IDEAL said in a statement.
IDEAL was originally founded by Albert Surjaudaja, Ian Daniel Santoso, and Indira Nur Shadrina; with Jeganathan Sethu, who later joined in 2022 as part of the founding team. The firm provides a digital solution to streamline the process and improve the mortgage experience for Indonesia’s homebuyers.
While the current mortgage paradigm is largely dependent on property agent suggestions, IDEAL gives control back to the buyer, so they may select the best available mortgage product on the market.
On its platform, IDEAL helps users calculate the costs and installments in detail so they can choose the best options that fit their needs and situations. Its platform also provides a direct application system where users can apply to multiple banks with one set of data and a real-time tracking system to monitor the process.
In addition to process efficiency and increased clarity, IDEAL also offers a secure digital system that minimizes human error and data leaks that often occur during the usual paper-based or messaging-app-based mortgage process.
IDEAL’s business model enables the startup to generate revenue through commissions from banks and property developers for every successful loan application through the platform. So far, it has partnered with five major banks – including CIMB Niaga, OCBC NISP, and Maybank – as well as Indonesia’s largest property developers: Sinar Mas Land, Ciputra Group, and Agung Sedayu Group.
Currently, the firm is focused on the primary housing market, but IDEAL will soon expand to secondary housing and mortgage refinancing/take-over products. It will launch a dashboard to help users monitor and manage their mortgages. The team also plans to expand into other big-ticket consumer loans, with a long-term vision of penetrating new markets in ASEAN.
“IDEAL is special because we put the consumer’s mind and heart first in making any product development decisions. That said, we also come with an extensive network in both the banking and the property development spaces. We believe that our investors share the same vision with us, which is to help Indonesians achieve their IDEAL life, starting with digitizing the mortgage process,” said Albert.
Ian echoed this sentiment, saying, “We also feel that the industry expertise, network, and track record of our investors will be one of the keys to our success moving forward. Onboarding two of the biggest developers in Indonesia as our investors will also be very meaningful to IDEAL’s long-term business.”
“Our product is built from in-depth user surveys and extensive discussions with industry players, with a clear vision of what solutions are needed in the current landscape. On top of that, we believe we have a distinguished team to execute the idea, with relevant backgrounds and expertise,” added Indira.
Meanwhile, AC Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Adrian Li said Indonesia’s mortgage penetration is currently at 3 percent of local gross domestic product, and this is low compared to Malaysia and Singapore, which are at 30 percent or higher.
“This presents a $30 billion opportunity if Indonesia can double its mortgage penetration to 6 percent via improved financial access. IDEAL’s strong-suited team identified a bottleneck in the mortgage industry and brought domain expertise in fintech and real estate to build a one-stop shop for mortgages in Indonesia. IDEAL works with banks’ API connections and streams together data-gathering and applicant processes to increase the mortgage success rate,” he added.
Alpha JWC Ventures Partner Eko Kurniadi, on the other hand, opined that purchasing a house, especially one’s first, is getting harder for Indonesia’s next generation.
“Rising prices aside, less financially literate customers are also faced with challenging procedures when it comes to mortgage options, applications, and hidden fees. With its technology, we believe IDEAL can democratize mortgage products and bridge financial solutions with a whole new generation of homebuyers,” he added.
With a strong core management team that comes with extensive experience in technology and finance, IDEAL is an Indonesia-based digital mortgage platform that addresses and streamlines a variety of pain points in the traditional home buying process.
Currently focusing on the Greater Jakarta area, to date, the startup has partnered with three of the nation’s major property developers and onboarded five major banks as lenders.