Indonesian startup Mapan secures $15m Series A funding to enhance financial access and inclusion

Mapan, an Indonesia-based leading startup focused on eliminating barriers to financial access for the masses in the country, announced it has closed a successful Series A round of $15 million. The round was co-led by Patamar Capital and PT Astra Digital Internasional, a subsidiary of PT Astra International Tbk (Astra), with participation from Indonesian giants BRI Ventures, SMDV, Blibli, Prasetia Dwidharma, and global venture capital firms Flourish Ventures and 500 Global.

With this successful fundraise, Mapan will now look towards growing their core Arisan service through expanding their product range and partnering with top suppliers. An aspect of Indonesian culture, Arisan is a form of informal social gathering, where members will take turns to purchase products for the group. The firm will also introduce a larger variety of Arisan schemes, and expand its reach, targeting to make their digitised Arisan product available to 10 million households in Indonesia by 2026. In its aim to drive financial inclusion in the country, where 51 per cent^[1] of adults in Indonesia lack access to banks or other forms of formal financial services, Mapan will also introduce other products to enhance financial inclusion and improve access to financing sources for the masses.

Since 2015, Mapan has also focused on the empowerment of women leaders of Arisan groups, which are traditional women-run rotating savings groups, through the introduction of its Arisan application. Through the recruitment of women leaders and influencers as agents and creators of Arisan groups, Mapan has provided affordable goods financing to more than three million households to-date. Women influencers and leaders of Mapan's Arisan groups can also count on receiving additional benefits, such as commission from product sales, incentives for recruiting and educating new agents, and other performance milestones, thereby bringing financial equality to women from low-income families in Indonesia.

Ardelia Apti, CEO, Mapan: ''In Indonesia, women play a key role in managing their family's finances, and Arisan is the manifestation of this process. We are honoured that through the Mapan Arisan product, they have been empowered to help their communities improve their ability to purchase household goods, thus boosting their quality of life. We are committed to continue to work closely with them to evolve our solutions that provide life-changing financial access at scale.''

Mapan was founded in 2009 with a mission to improve the quality of life for the masses in Indonesia through solutions that will help eliminate barriers to financial resources for low-income communities. Through the usage of Mapan's Arisan product, lower-income groups can increase their buying power to purchase household goods such as cookware, electronics, and furniture. The firm also currently provides other products and services such as bills payment application, Mapan Pulsa, and consumer goods resale platform, Mapan Mart.

Gidion Hasan, Director, Astra: "In line with Astra's aim to prosper with the nation, Astra wishes to contribute in advancing the quality of life of the people of Indonesia, one of which is by contributing in the advancement of Indonesia's digital economy. The collaboration with Mapan is one of our ways to enable people from all walks of society to meet their daily needs."

Dondi Hananto, Partner, Patamar Capital: ''We love Mapan's unique approach to amplify the power of women in the communities. The concept of Arisan has been core to Indonesian culture for many years, and by digitising it, Mapan brought scalability to the age-old practice. We are excited to play our part in Mapan's next phase of growth, as it looks to improve financial access and the quality of lives of Indonesians.''

On the sidelines of this fundraise, the firm recently announced the appointment of Ardelia Apti as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Ardelia and her team are committed to delivering Mapan's promise of improving the lives of Indonesians through technology, while driving the firm's expansion and product development.

Prior to Mapan, Ardelia Apti established deep business experience in fintech and deep tech space. She spent 5 years with Gojek, part of the GoTo Group, in several roles. During her time at Gojek, Ardelia co-built its Swadaya programme, a benefits programme for Gojek driver-partners that helps them save on daily expenses, and also headed GoPay's Offline Payments business, driving QR payment solutions for consumers, businesses, and MSMEs. She was also previously country director for AI company Element, Inc., and a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO and Co-founder, Mapan: "With this new fundraising round from a strong base of both Indonesian and global investors, we are excited by the new phase that is now ushered in. This represents support for Ardelia's vision of building a community of women to ensure that Indonesian families become financially self-sufficient, and we are excited to further drive this forward."

Mapan currently operates in Java, Bali, Sumatera, Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi, and plans to expand its operations across the rest of Indonesia.

www.mapan.id