Indonesian digital lender JULO announced that it has secured US$80 million funding from Credit Saison, a Japanese financial services company affiliated to Mizuho Financial Group.
This funding includes a mix of US$30 million in equity and US$50 million in debt financing by Credit Saison.
JULO said that the US$30 million equity will be used to advance JULO’s analytics, for product development, marketing, and customer acquisition plans by hiring additional talent across their developer, data scientist and business intelligence teams.
Meanwhile, the US$50 million debt financing will be used for loans on the platform.
The investment from Credit Saison is part of the company’s continuous efforts to introduce its financial services foundation to high-growth fintechs outside of Japan via a combination of capital and close operational partnerships.
The investments mark the organisation’s next steps to accelerate its expansion into the high-growth and promising Indonesian market.
JULO’s team has prioritised responsible lending and collections after having received a full license from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).
In 2021, JULO launched a digital credit card, which saw 97% users utilising non-cash features to top-up e-wallets, top up phone credits, pay utility bills, and process payments on e-commerce sites.
In 2021, the total number of funds disbursed by JULO grew by more than three times as compared to the year prior and the company aims to increase its loan book by more than five times in the next 12 months.
“JULO has emerged from the past few years as a resilient and COVID-proven business with more than US$300M disbursements under its belt to date.
We look forward to joining hands with them in this next phase of growth to accelerate financial products that will drive truly meaningful change for individuals in Southeast Asia,” said Kosuke Mori, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Head of Global Business at Credit Saison.
“JULO is already being used by Indonesians throughout their financial lives – 72% of loans are used for improvement purposes such as business capital, home renovation and education.
By joining hands with Credit Saison, we have a fresh opportunity to take this significantly further by re-envisioning what the future of traditional lending should look like to truly uplift the region’s most underserved,” said AdrianusHitijahubessy, CEO and Co-Founder of JULO.