Bibit is raising another growth round that is led by Sequoia Capital India, this time for $65 million
Four months after the start of a $30 million expansion round in Bibit, Sequoia Capital India has expanded its investment into the Indonesian robot-advisor app. Bibit announced that it was the lead investor in an additional $65 million growth round, which also included involvement from Prosus Ventures, Tencent, Harvard Management Company, and returning investors AC Ventures and East Ventures.
This brings Bibit’s total investment to $110 million, which includes the Series A announced in May 2019. The most recent round will be focused on the development and launch of new products, hiring, and expanding Bibit’s financial education offerings.
Bibit was founded in the year 2019 by Stockbit, which is a stock-investing platform and community. It is part of a plethora of Indonesian investment apps geared towards new investors. There are also SoftBank Ventures’ Ajaib, Bareksa, Pluang, and fantastic. Bibit provides a robo-advisory service for mutual funds that invests the funds of its users according to their risk profile and boasts that 90% of its customers are millennials or first-time investors.
As per the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan), the number of retail investors increased by 56 percent over the course of the year 2020. Particularly in the case of mutual funds, Bibit stated that investors grew 78% over the course of the year to 3.2 million in 2020, based on information obtained from the Indonesia Stock Exchange and Central Securities Custodian.
Despite the economic effects of COVID-19, interest in stock investments increased because investors were able to profit from market dips (the Jakarta Composite Index fell in the first quarter of 2020, but it is steadily improving). Apps such as Bibit and its rivals aim to make capital-based investing easier to access with fewer charges and lower minimum investment amounts as compared to traditional brokerages such as Mandiri Sekuritas, which also witnessed a growth in the number of new retail investors and a rise in average transaction values this year.
However, the proportion of investors who are retail in Indonesia is still quite low when compared to markets such as Singapore or Malaysia, which could be a source of growth for investing services.
Apps such as Bibit concentrate on providing content that makes the process of investing in capital less daunting for new investors. For instance, Ajaib also presents its financial education features as a reason to buy.
In a press release, Sequoia Capital India Vice President Rohit Agarwal stated, “Indonesian customers of mutual funds have seen their numbers grow by 10x over the last five years. Savings through mutual funds are the initial stage towards investing, and Bibit has helped millions of customers begin their journey to investing in a responsible way. Sequoia Capital India is excited to expand this partnership since it brings the same attention to customers as investing in stocks through Stockbit.
