Investree management team with investors
Fintech lending platform Investree has announced that it has acquired half of the stake in Mbiz, a B2B procurement startup, DailySocial reported.
No financial details were disclosed.
The acquisition is an effort to build an infrastructure to support SMEs beyond the financial scope.
According to Co-founder Investree Adrian Gunadi, with this deal, it will sit as a Board observer at Mbiz, a position at a Director level with no business decision making a vote.
The acquisition of Mbiz was a decision made for “SMEs digitisation through e-procurement that is done with a transparent, reliable, and competent product and service supply”.
Through Mbiz.co.id and Mbizmarket platforms, SMEs together with product and service vendors will get capital access to market its businesses. The pressing issue all this time is that vendors often have troubles to continue with production because of unfriendly cash-flow terms.
Also Read: B2B/G e-commerce platform Mbiz announces Series A, reveals milestones in 1st anniversary
With this synergy, the companies expect to be a support for companies and suppliers to buy them time, space, and the ability to pay their vendors to continue with their business.
“Moving forward, Investree will offer not only financial service but also SMEs-addressed solution. Instead of building our own procurement infrastructure, it’s better to form a partnership and become a stakeholder,” Gunadi explained.
Gunadi added that the acquisition process was started almost a year ago, beginning with capital financing for suppliers. There are several Mbiz users that are vendors and buyers who already enjoyed the US$6.5 million financings.
Indonesian SMEs only account for 8 per cent or 3,92 million out of 59,2 million SMEs in the country. In a report by McKinsey & Co, it’s stated that the country’s e-procurement potential will reach US$125 billion in 2025, estimated from the total number made of global corporate services (US$18 billion), B2B marketplace (US$76 billion), dan B2B services (US$36 billion).
CEO Mbiz Rizal Paramarta said: “So far we’ve only facilitated buyers and sellers with a platform to transact, while the big picture has always been about an end-to-end ecosystem for procurement solution. We entered into the early stage of financing because B2B transaction is entirely dependent on the capital need.”
Also Read: Indonesian P2P lending site Investree to enter Vietnam, launches sharia-based service
Investree is the second external investor for Mbiz after Tokyo Century Corporation in its Series A funding in 2017, receiving US$72 million.
Mbiz is the Multipolar’s subsidiary, a part of Lippo Group established in 2015. Lippo was also the angel investor that backed Mbiz in its early days.
Investree plans to expand to the Philippines in January next year, which aims to provide e-procurement financing solutions. Gunadi confirmed that it will be the first of the upcoming acquisitions of SMEs-targeted companies in Southeast Asia.
Investree already had operations in Thailand and Vietnam under the name eLoan. “We may change eLoan into Investree Vietnam once the regulation is done,” said Gunadi.
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Image Credit: Investree
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