Global nonprofit Accion has on Tuesday announced a $17.5 million equity investment from the Accion Digital Transformation Fund in Indonesian microfinance technology company, Amartha.

Accion said in a statement that the investment aims to help deliver Amartha’s ambition of building a platform providing a full suite of financial products and services to underserved women-led small businesses in mainly rural areas across Indonesia by harnessing the power of data and artificial intelligence (AI).

This latest investment positions Amartha to increase its product offerings in the MSMEs sector, strengthen its advanced audience analytics system, and drive adoption of its digital services, connecting many more people and small businesses to responsible financial services.

In addition to investment capital, Accion Digital Transformation Fund will provide strategic support to strengthen customer engagement, operational efficiency, and product innovation using digital technologies.

“Amartha and Accion have shared objectives — reducing inequality in access to financial services,

“The latest funding from Accion Digital Transformation Fund will help strengthen our ability to leverage the power of data and AI,” said Ramdhan Anggakaradibrata, Chief Financial Officer of Amartha.

“We will not only meet the current needs of our customers but also anticipate future trends and challenges,

“This approach will help us remain at the forefront of fintech innovation, continually evolving to provide cutting-edge financial solutions that empower our customers and drive sustainable growth,” he added.

Amartha is a microfinance technology company that leverages innovative technology and partnership to build an ecosystem for the grassroots economy serving women-led micro and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), merchants, institutional banking, retail investors, and startups.

Originally established as a microfinance institution in 2010, the firm emerged into a technology company in 2016.

It becomes a digital financial service provider in Indonesia, specializing in a diverse range of financial solutions for the “bottom of the pyramid” segment.

The firm has developed a comprehensive digital financial infrastructure that connects microbusinesses in Tier 2 and 3 cities outside of Java Island.

By incorporating an embedded lending and funding model for both institutional and retail investors, Amartha streamlines personalized financial solutions that resonate with their customers.

The firm also offers payment services and a proprietary credit scoring system, providing a highly integrated microfinance technology option for digitizing Indonesia’s grassroots communities.

To date, Amartha has disbursed working capital of over 25 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($1.6 billion) to over 2.5 million women-led businesses in rural and peri-urban areas of Java, Sumatra, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan.

Its cross border funding platform provides access to capital to grassroots businesses, while also representing small businesses as an alternative investment instrument to institutional investors that is both profitable and impactful.

“Through its unique business model and marketplace platform, we believe Amartha is in a prime position to connect many women-led small businesses across Indonesia to responsible financial services for the first time,

“We are partnering with Amartha to provide both strategic support and growth capital, as they work to reach new clients in underserved areas using digital technologies,” said Njord Andrewes, Managing Partner of Accion Transformation Capital and member of Amartha’s Board of Commissioners.

Managed by Accion Impact Management, the Accion Digital Transformation Fund builds on Accion’s experience supporting banks and finance companies around the world to connect millions of people and small businesses to the digital economy.

Investments from the $152.5 million fund focus on companies serving micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, providing growth capital and strategic support for digital transformation.

Accion Impact Management is Accion’s platform for impact investments in financial inclusion leveraging third-party capital.

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