15/8/2018 – Cicil, an Indonesian financing platform for university students has today closed its Series A funding round led by East and Vertex Ventures.
Other investors who also participated in the round include existing investor Accord Ventures, as well as new backers K3 Ventures and Ethos Partners.
Joo Hock Chua, the Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures said the investment will be used to continue the platform’s expansion on student financing market services in Indonesia.
Founded in late 2016, Cicil focuses on distributing loans targeting university students. The fintech company provides financial services to tertiary students for paying tuition fees and purchasing school needs online through monthly installments.
“We see financial access as a real problem for students,” Cicil’s co-founder Leslie Lim said. “Moving forward, Cicil hopes to be able to help overcome the problem, not only in Indonesia but also throughout Southeast Asia.”
Currently, the startup claims to have expanded across 10 provinces and 29 cities in Indonesia and now serves students from more than 100 universities.
According to Managing Partner at East Ventures Willson Cuaca, Cicil is different from loan companies in general because what they target is one of the most critical problems in the country, that is the development of human capacity.
The platform brings a positive impact on the students by providing them financial support for the best educational experience. Financial aside, Cicil also offers an ambassador program to teach students soft skills which allow them to better prepare for the workforce.
“Access to education can lift up and improve living standard. However, the education system is costly in Indonesia,” Wilson said.
“Cicil fills the gap by giving financing to students for their tuition and education tools such as laptop and computer. This helps the student progress forward and align with the national movement to become Energy of Asia,” he added.
Although the financial details of the investment were not disclosed, this latest investment is said to bring Cicil’s total funding aggregation to more than US$5 million.
Competing with Cicil is DanaDidik, a crowdfunding startup that enables Indonesian students to borrow funds from their sponsors, which they can pay back in installments once they have graduated and found a job.
