Indonesia’s Alami comes in second in the TaqwaTech Pitch Pit

• In May, Alami channeled financing worth US$311,030 to various SMEs
• Has acquiring a licensed mark from the Financial Services Authority or OJK

PT ALAMI Fintek Sharia (Alami) came in as the runner-up position in the TaqwaTech Pitch Pit organised by Gobi Partners Venture Capital.

The competition, which began in May 2019, targeted startups from various Muslim-based industries.

Three companies from Indonesia qualified for the top ten, namely Alami, as well as two marketplace startups for pilgrimage services PergiUmroh.com and Umroh.com.

TaqwaTech is a startup competition that offers products and services for Muslim consumers (B2C), businesses (B2B), or communities around the world. As part of Malaysia Tech Week, this competition presented funding opportunities of up to US$1 million (RM4.14 million) to winning startups.

The assessment process for the top three places emphasised product conformity aspects and focused on Muslim market segments, business ideas, market size, business strategy execution, and presentation.

According to Alami CEO Dima Djani (pic), they crafted a thorough preparation in a short amount of time.

"Alhamdulillah, Alami won the runner-up position, where we received great benefits for the continuity of Alami’s business. We now have  the opportunity to connect to a strong network and the global Syariah startup ecosystem.

“The biggest challenge aside from the preparation was certainly a good pitching strategy and a focus on the performance exposition. From the screening process, Alami entered the top eight and attracted the interest of the judges in the eight-minute presentation session, and finally won the second place," said Dima.

According to Dima, the idea of rejuvenating the Islamic finance industry in Indonesia was the main point that attracted the attention of TaqwaTech judges.

"We focused on describing the reasons why Alami’s business in P2P Syariah financing is superior to the conventional P2P lending.

“Alami also underlined its vision and long-term commitment to contribute towards optimising its services for the Indonesian people through this business model," Dima added.

In addition to three startups from Indonesia, the seven other TaqwaTech Pitch Pit participants were Modest Forever (India), Jombnb, Serunai, Favoriot (Malaysia), IslamicMarket (UK), CollabDeen, and Hoolah (Singapore).

Since acquiring a licensed mark from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Alami has been progressively more active in expanding opportunities for collaboration with various parties.

Alami signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the The Association of Young Indonesian Businesspeople (HIPMI) of Jakarta Raya (Jaya) within the framework of Syariah-based funding partnerships.

Through this partnership, Alami will provide Syariah-based business financing access to all members of HIPMI Jaya. In May 2019, Alami managed to channel financing worth US$311,030 (Rp4.4 billion) to various SMEs.

Dima also wished that more vertical initiatives will emerge, especially those that focus on the Muslim segment so that more businesses will grow to serve the community with approaches that match the values of Islamic Syariah.

"Indonesia will be the only country with the largest Muslim population in the top 10 world economies in 2045. So this is the time for businesses that serve the Muslim segment, especially in the area of Islamic finance, to be supported in their latitude as a real contribution in realising the newly launched Syariah Economy Masterplan by the government," Dima concluded.