Revolutionizing Financing
for Small and Growing Businesses in Indonesia

BIDUK is an impact oriented lending platform bridging the financing gap for women-led or environmentally sustainable Small and Growing Businesses.

Our goal is to become the lender of choice in emerging markets by offering effective financial services so every viable early-stage business owner has no constraints to capital.

Many small and growing businesses in Indonesia, especially those that are women-owned/led, lack access to the capital they need to grow into healthy, steady-state companies.

These companies are too big for microfinance, too small for venture capital, and are too risky and lack sufficient collateral for
commercial banks.

Beyond Capital: Utilising Non-Financial Services

to Support SME Growth

3 Lessons learned from BIDUK and others in the Frontier Brokers’ network on how non-financial services can foster enterprise growth and drive returns for financial institutions.

BIDUK customizes financial products that serve the specific needs of individual businesses

Banks and other capital providers tend to develop “off-the-shelf” products that are not well-suited to the cash flow needs of growing businesses. BIDUK starts by identifying the capital needs of each client and then develops custom solutions specifically for the business needs, at that point in time.

BIDUK puts the clients at the center

From the beginning, we work to build mutual trust, which often includes frank discussion about clients' non-financial and capacity building needs. BIDUK does not provide formal TA or training, but we do spend a lot of time with clients helping them to understand their businesses better. We also have vetted several Indonesian service providers that we recommend to our clients to help them with specific knowledge or training gaps.

BIDUK right-sizes the investment process for SGBs

While conventional banks typically require collateral and onerous financial documentation, BIDUK understands that these requirements often prevent SGBs from accessing capital. We offer uncollateralized loans with a review process, documentation requirements and approval timeline that is scaled to work for most SGBs.

BIDUK’s lending platform uses flexible, commercially priced debt products that are incredibly well-suited to meet the needs of small and growing businesses in Indonesia (and throughout Southeast Asia).

BIDUK is designed with gender equity, positive impact, and environmental awareness at the core.

BIDUK’S APPROACH TO SGB FINANCING

Custom-made (yet simple) structures and repayment mechanisms, based on the cash flows of the business, meet the risk management and transparency requirements of BIDUK. Most importantly, this is accomplished while working with the realities of the client’s formal business documentation.
The result is a faster due diligence process and lower transaction costs, which are often a barrier to smaller investments made through angel investing, private equity or venture capital. BIDUK products and processes are designed to eliminate intentional or unintentional gender (or other) bias, as thoroughly as possible.

BIDUK: Investing in Business for Progress

Partners

Frontier Brokers is an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) program focused on impact investment, scaling social enterprises and Gender lens investing.

Athena is a US-based, woman owned, niche consulting firm aimed at applying private sector financing approaches to solve traditional development challenges. Athena is the lead implementing partner of BIDUK.

BIDUK is an investee of Sprout Enterprises, a US based foundation focused on supporting entrepreneurs in the creative economy.

A DFAT funded program that tackles gender inequality and fights to catalyse inclusive economic growth in SouthEast Asia through women’s economic empowerment.

BIDUK News