The archive · Money & Fintech · Financial decision · 2020–2024
Investree's SME-lending bet collapses as OJK revokes license after CEO admission
Indonesia's peer-to-peer lender raised US$231M to close the SME credit gap, then ran dry, lost its license, exposed a founder who used company money.
Investree
What the business is
Indonesian peer-to-peer lending marketplace connecting investors directly to small-business borrowers.
Starting capital：US$231 million Series D announced October 2022, led by Qatar's JTA International Holdings; DealStreetAsia's data shows the Singapore parent had raised US$31.7 million by early 2024.
How it started
Founded by Adrian Gunadi in Indonesia, Investree built a peer-to-peer marketplace matching small-business borrowers with investors, growing into one of the country's better-known fintech names as marketplace lending boomed.
What happened
It raised steadily and in August 2022 bought an 18.4% stake in Bank Amar to distribute loans through a licensed bank. In October 2022 it announced a US$231 million Series D led by Qatar's JTA International Holdings. Liquidity then tightened: disbursements ran late and operational costs outstripped cover. DealStreetAsia-reviewed documents showed Gunadi admitting he diverted company funds to his personal account and used Investree as guarantor for his private ventures; an EGM on 17 January 2024 slated sales chief Salman Baharuddin to replace him, and Gunadi resigned effective 31 January 2024.
How it ended up
On 22 October 2024 OJK revoked Investree's business license, citing failure to meet minimum equity obligations despite earlier warnings and activity restrictions. The regulator ordered a shareholders' meeting to form a liquidation team and dissolve the company, barred Gunadi from key financial-industry roles, and began tracing assets.
Background
Investree was built on a simple marketplace-lending story: Indonesia's small businesses could not get bank credit, so connect them directly with investors willing to fund their loans. Founded by Adrian Gunadi, it became one of the country's best-known fintech names, and by October 2022 it announced a US$231 million Series D led by Qatar's JTA International Holdings, after buying an 18.4% stake in Bank Amar in August 2022.
The growth story unravelled fast. Liquidity tightened, fund disbursements ran late and operational costs outstripped cover. DealStreetAsia-reviewed documents reportedly showed Gunadi admitting he had diverted company funds to his personal account and used Investree as a guarantor for his private ventures. After an extraordinary general meeting on 17 January 2024, he resigned, effective 31 January 2024, amid shareholder anger.
On 22 October 2024 Indonesia's financial regulator OJK revoked Investree's business license, citing failure to meet minimum equity requirements despite earlier warnings and activity restrictions. It ordered the company to form a liquidation team and dissolve, barred Gunadi from holding key roles in financial institutions, and began tracing assets. The marketplace-lending bet that was supposed to outgrow banks instead collapsed under its own leverage.
What has to be true
- The model leaned on foreign credit lines to grow faster than Indonesian banks; when the money stopped coming on schedule, the whole engine stalled at once.
- Governance stayed founder-centric: the same person who controlled company funds also told shareholders the rosy story, so the misuse and the confidence game fed each other.
- Regulatory distance let the illusion run long: OJK's sequence of warnings, restrictions and finally revocation showed an operator could masquerade as healthy just long enough to make the fall deeper.
What can be applied
A lender that scales on borrowed money and borrowed trust fails at the seam between growth targets and real underwriting - verify where the money actually goes before it gets bigger.
Aftermath
Investree was ordered to wind down: a shareholders' meeting was to form a liquidation team, employees and customers were to be settled, and asset tracing continued so investor funds could be recovered. Adrian Gunadi remains barred from financial-industry roles as the probe carries on, and the collapse became a reference point for Indonesia's fintech-lending cleanup - the sector's default rates and fraud cases drew repeated regulator scrutiny through 2025.
Sources
- Investree CEO Adrian Gunadi resigns, admits wrongdoings to board
- Adrian Gunadi Steps Down as Investree CEO Amid Misconduct Claims
- OJK Revokes Investree License, Pursues Legal Action Against Former CEO Gunadi
- 5 Top Stories That Shaped Indonesia's Fintech Scene in 2024
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