Jakarta, 19 May 2023 – KoinWorks, the first MSME neobank in Indonesia, was awarded the “Best ESG/Sustainability Initiative of The Year: Social Aspect (Special Award)” at the Sustainable Finance Summit & Awards 2023 in Paris, France. The awards were held on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, and was attended by Angelique Timmer as Senior VP Impact & ESG of KoinWorks.
This is the inaugural year for the summit and award-giving body which aims to “Drive change in the real economy” by bringing together thought leaders and innovative businesses that practice sustainable asset financing. Organized by Arena International, the awards honor international finance companies that have sought, created, and found creative and inspiring solutions to what was once deemed as insurmountable odds to align business goals with inclusivity for society through impact investing.
“We are thankful that a fintech startup from Southeast Asia that has aimed for societal growth from its inception can win a global award from The Sustainable Finance Awards. KoinWorks released its first Impact Report this year, sharing how our goals have grown with our mission to push for growth for MSMEs to thrive in the digital age, and for our vision that small but significant businesses’ success would snowball into prosperity for the Indonesian economy,” said Angelique.
The international awards are aligned with the European Commission’s sustainable finance strategy launched in 2021, which proposes actionable solutions like providing the right tools and incentives to promote strategic initiatives for GHG emissions reduction taken by companies tackling climate change challenges.
Angelique added that, “With this ESG award showcasing our hard work, we hope to be able to positively impact fintechs in Southeast Asia, as well as the world, that a strong commitment to sustainable business practices with an ESG focus is the only right way to move forward.”
KoinWorks recently launched its “Impact Report First Edition: Leveling Up Beyond Finance” which contains KoinWorks’ track record for sustainable business practices and KoinWorks’ roadmap for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. It can be accessed here.
Through its products and services, KoinWorks has succeeded in supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to increase their revenue by 34% and their digital transactions up to 82%. Along with the growth of these MSMEs, KoinWorks has contributed to creating 116,000 new jobs, equivalent to 1% of the national target of creating new jobs from the digital economy by 2025.
In addition, KoinWorks embraces diversity, equality, and inclusion in the work environment. Currently, 33% of KoinWorks’ employees are women, above the average of 28% of global technology companies.
Beneditco Haryono, CEO & Co-Founder of KoinWorks, shared, “Creating social and sustainable impact through equal access to finance is KoinWorks’ raison d être. This recognition is a testament that we are moving in the right direction to support more MSMEs in Indonesia, especially those in the underserved segment and women-led businesses.”
Currently, KoinWorks serves 2.2 million users in their digital ecosystem, which consists of 1.4 million individual lenders and 840 thousand MSME borrowers. Since its establishment in 2016, KoinWorks has disbursed USD 1.1 billion of funding to MSMEs, closing 1.2% of total national MSME unmet credit.
