Equal opportunity for middle & lower income communities

• Combining technology and tradition is the winning formula for 500-backed social commerce company Mapan. The team builds on the culture of arisan to uplift the lives of Indonesians from middle- to lower- income communities.
• Arisan is a traditional rotating savings and credit scheme in Indonesia that involves a group of people coming together to contribute a sum of money. Every month, a winner is chosen via the lottery method, who then takes home the pool of money. Each member can only win once per cycle, so everyone will eventually get the prize.
• Mapan takes this concept a step further by digitalizing this tradition through a mobile app. Instead of just saving money, users can use the app to buy products.
• Popular among homemakers, this installment model is an effective saving method for individuals and families to purchase bigger ticket items without debt.

• CEO Ardelia Apti shared that the company’s revenue grew more than 3x from 2021 to 2022, a growth driven by the expansion of Mapan’s product catalog, which now offers a wide range of categories. At the beginning of 2022, the company had 300 products, but the figure has grown to 1,000.
• The team also expanded their reach from Bali, Sumatra, and Sulawesi to the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. 
• It’s not just customers that’s loving Mapan; the team is helping suppliers reach middle- to low-income customers in areas where goods distribution is usually multi-layered and expensive. These customers typically struggle to use digital payments to purchase products via online platforms, and have a hard time affording goods that require full cash payment upfront, but they can spend anywhere between US$80 to US$230 a month.
• Mapan aims to reach 10 million households by 2026 from their current 3 million+ agents and arisan members.
• How will they achieve their ambitious goal? Ardelia shared that the team will focus on optimizing the supply chain to reduce logistics costs and reach more users in remote areas.
• They also plan to serve younger women, such as those who have just entered the workforce or graduated from college, by adding product categories they want such as gadgets, work equipment, and shoes.
• Read the full article on Tech in Asia.