Taralite

Taralite was an Indonesian financial technology firm that operated as a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform. Founded in 2015 by Abraham Viktor and Victor Timothy, the company initially launched under the name Wedlite, providing loans for personal uses like weddings. The business soon pivoted to focus on providing working capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly online sellers on major e-commerce platforms.

The company's business model centered on offering credit access to underserved online merchants by leveraging their digital footprint, including transaction numbers and customer ratings, to assess credit risk. Taralite partnered with prominent Indonesian e-commerce marketplaces such as Tokopedia, Lazada, and Bukalapak to offer loans to their sellers. This strategy allowed sellers to scale their businesses by obtaining financing that might have been inaccessible through traditional banking channels. For individuals and institutions, Taralite provided a platform to lend money to these small businesses.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by OVO, a leading Indonesian digital payments platform, with the deal being finalized in February 2019. Prior to the acquisition, in 2017, Taralite had secured US$6.3 million in a funding round from the Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI Group. The acquisition by OVO was a strategic move to integrate Taralite's lending capabilities into OVO's expanding financial services ecosystem. This integration enabled services like the "Pay-later" option for shoppers on Tokopedia and the launch of OVO DanaTara, a cash flow management and business capital solution for MSMEs. After the acquisition, the Taralite team of approximately 60 people moved to the OVO headquarters in Jakarta. Co-founder Abraham Viktor briefly remained as Taralite's CEO before leaving to start a new venture in the food and beverage industry.

Keywords: Taralite, OVO, peer-to-peer lending, P2P lending, fintech, Indonesia, SME financing, online merchant loans, Abraham Viktor, Victor Timothy, Wedlite, e-commerce lending, Tokopedia financing, Lazada financing, Bukalapak financing, SBI Group, digital lending, financial inclusion, MSME loans, OVO DanaTara, invoice financing, credit access, startup acquisition