Bibit Receives Fresh Funds of More than 1.1 Trillion Rupiah Led by GIC

Wealthtech platform Bibit announced it has raised over $80 million (over 1.1 trillion Rupiah) in funding in a round led by GIC Private Limited (GIC). This round was also attended by Prosus Ventures and other investors who had previously supported Bibit.

Previously, news about the entry of GIC into Bibit had been circulating since February 2022. GIC is an investment fund institution for the Singapore government. Bukalapak and Bank Jago are one of its portfolios in Indonesia.

Bibit will use the fresh funds to launch new products and services, develop technology, recruit the best talent, and strengthen educational programs to increase investment penetration that is currently booming in Indonesia.

Bibit Co-founder & CEO Sigit Kouwagam said, “We believe that everyone deserves a better future. The company is here to help people 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 the investor partners who have supported us to accelerate this mission,” he said in an official statement, Wednesday (25/5).

Established in 2019

Bibit started its work in early 2019 after being acquired by Stockbit, a service for investors to share ideas about stock investing, news, and real-time information.

The Bibit platform is designed as a mutual fund “robo-advisor” in Indonesia, helping investors to build portfolios according to their risk profile and investment objectives. From the data provided, 90% of Bibit users are millennial investors who previously had no experience in investing.

The company secured series A funding led by East Ventures in 2019. Other participating investors are Convergence Ventures, FreakOut, and past investors such as 500 Startups, Ideosource, and Braavos Ventures.

Early 2020, Bibit raised US$ 65 million or Rp 939 billion in funding led by Sequoia Capital, India. In addition, Prosus Ventures, Tencent, Harvard Management Company, former investors such as AC Ventures and East Ventures also participated.

It is claimed, 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 profile and also financial goals in a safe, simple and easy way.

The company has recorded several achievements over the past year, including the launch of Stockbit Sekuritas, an e-IPO feature that allows users to participate in the IPO process which is online.

In addition, there was also the inauguration of the Stockbit Academy as a means for the public 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) of Selling Government Securities (SBN) in early 2022.

Mutual Fund Investors in Indonesia Grow

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% (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% (YoY) and has touched 3.83 million investors. Growth was supported by the boom in the number of retail investors.

More than half of these investors are claimed to use Bibit and Stockbit as investment applications. Despite the significant growth, it should be noted that the number of people who invest in the capital market is still below 4% of the total population.

Its closest competitor, Pluang, previously announced a $55 million funding round earlier this year led by Accel. Then followed by other investors, including Trung Nguyen, Andy Ho, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, and Jeffrey Zirlin (founder of Axie Infinity), BRI Ventures, Gold House, along with previous investors.