Amartha Hosts 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum in Bali, Draws Global Investor Interest in the Grassroots Economy

Indonesia-based fintech Amartha hosted the second Asia Grassroots Forum on May 21-23, 2025, at the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua, Bali. The event gathered industry leaders from across Asia to explore the future of grassroots economies, financial inclusion, and how technology can unlock the potential of MSMEs.

This year’s theme, “Scaling Impact, Pioneering an Entrepreneurial Society”, challenges all stakeholders to reconsider how ecosystems can be built to drive broader and faster impact, especially amid rising inequality and economic uncertainties.

In a conversation with DealStreetAsia, Amartha founder and CEO Andi Taufan Garuda Putra said the forum aims to highlight the underlooked potential of Asia’s grassroots economy. “The reason we held this grassroots forum is to build trust in Asia, especially in MSME markets. If entrepreneurs and financial institutions are bold enough to engage these markets, the ripple effect will follow. At the very least, we want regional players to look back at Asia and see the opportunities again,” he explained.

Expanding Beyond Women While Staying Rooted in Women-Led MSMEs

Founded in 2010, Amartha started with a mission to provide microloans to women in rural areas. Today, the company still serves a predominantly female borrower base but has expanded its offerings to include startups and enterprises through embedded lending models.

“If we talk about volume, the majority of our business is still with women MSMEs operating in the informal economy,” said Taufan. “Five years ago, it was 100% women. Today, it’s 99%. In the last two years, we saw an opportunity to empower startups to finance their customer base and to partner with enterprises to build embedded lending models.”

Despite diversification, Amartha remains focused on micro-lending, which Taufan describes as the firm’s “core strength.” Amartha currently serves around 3 million borrowers, with plans to expand that figure 10 times over. Taufan emphasized the importance of understanding the varied cashflow types of grassroots businesses—from women-owned kiosks to wooden craft makers and smallholder farmers.

“We’re not trying to do everything. We invest our resources where we’re good at, and that gives confidence to our investors as well,” he said.

Taufan also emphasized that Amartha’s focus is not on short-term growth but on building a company that can deliver long-term impact and sustainable financial returns. “It’s not about hitting next year’s numbers. It’s about what we can build in the next five or ten years,” he said. “This is not charity. We can make attractive returns while serving the grassroots.”

Amartha’s strategy going forward includes scaling through partnerships with investors, banks, and other financial institutions while continuing to build credibility through consistent execution. To support this vision, Amartha offers a range of lending options for both institutional banking partners and retail investors.

“We know we can’t serve this segment alone. You need to build reputation and trust. That’s the muscle we’re building,” Taufan explained.

Since launching in 2010, Amartha has disbursed more than 35 trillion rupiah (US$2.2 billion) in working capital to 3.3 million MSMEs.

Earning Investor Trust Through Amartha’s Business Approach

As the CEO of Amartha, Taufan acknowledged that building trust with institutional investors hasn’t been easy. “Understanding our business model is not for everyone. You can’t just meet one investor, you have to meet hundreds,” he said. “Since we’re in financing, we’ve prioritized governance and accountability from day one. It’s not just about deploying money, it’s about managing the portfolio, showing credible financial reports, and maintaining a healthy NPL rate. That’s why we’ve been audited by the Big Four since our Series A equity round.”

At the 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum, Amartha welcomed two of its long-standing investors: Njord Andrewes, Managing Partner of Accion Digital Transformation and a member of Amartha’s Board of Commissioners; and Sanjay Sehgal, Managing Director and CIO of Women’s World Banking Asset Management. Both have played key roles in supporting Amartha’s mission to expand financial inclusion, especially for women-led businesses in rural Indonesia.

Sehgal highlighted one of the things that sets Amartha apart: its roots in serving women entrepreneurs. “That’s a big deal,” he said. In many of their investments, his team has had to push companies to recognize the value of women as customers, how they tend to manage money more responsibly, repay loans more consistently, and remain loyal over time instead of chasing quick deals. In May 2021, Amartha raised $28 million in a Series B funding round led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II fund, alongside MDI Ventures.

But for Women’s World Banking, the commitment goes beyond capital. “We help them diagnose the issue, design the product, do the marketing, run the pilot, and roll it out,” Sehgal explained. “And it’s not just about customer-facing changes. We also look internally, at women in management, on boards, and throughout the employee base. That’s our mission: to improve the presence of women at all levels of the organization.”

Andrewes expressed a similar viewpoint. “In some ways, you have to change it from the top down,” he said. “Because if you don’t set the standard, the organization is never going to change from within. The grassroots is great for providing access, but the systemic change has to start at the top.”

Andrewes, who joined Amartha’s board through Accion, has been following the company since its earliest days. “Even when we were still small, Njord had already been following our work,” said Taufan. “So it’s also about timing, and finding the right investors who understand the long game.” In June 2024, Accion’s Digital Transformation Fund invested $17.5 million in equity into Amartha.

“We’re grateful to have partners like Accion and Women’s World Banking who share our mission,” said Taufan. “They’re not short-term investors. They believe in building something that lasts, and they know that financial inclusion and impact can go hand in hand with attractive returns.”

Scaling with AI and Strengthening Governance

To scale efficiently and remain competitive, Amartha is doubling down on artificial intelligence and data-driven decision-making. The company is embedding AI into its underwriting and collection systems, tapping its vast database of borrower histories and transactions to sharpen risk profiling from the start.

“If we want to stay relevant, we need to bring AI back into focus,” said Taufan. “One area is risk profiling—how do we use data from millions of transactions and applications to make better decisions from day one.”

This leads to what Amartha calls its matchmaking engine—technology designed to connect loan applicants with the most suitable funding partners. With over 30 banking partners, including IFC, local banks, international lenders, and digital banks, the challenge is aligning each loan application with the risk appetite and profile of each institution. Strong governance and credibility have been key to enabling those partnerships.

That same disciplined approach helped Amartha secure a facility from the IFC, an institution known for its rigorous standards. “They run deep due diligence, and they know what they’re doing,” said Taufan. “They work with institutions around the world, so when they gave us the facility, they were comparing us with global players, not just local ones.”

Amartha continues to run the business with a long-term mindset, especially when it comes to serving the grassroots segment. “We continue to improve our governance, whether through risk and audit committees, ESG reporting, or meeting global standards,” Taufan said. “We even achieved a gold certification in client protection, something that’s not common among microfinance or banking players here.”