'Where Did I Go Wrong?' Reflections of a Millennial Investor

It was in May 2022, Sarah Amir, a distinguished undergraduate senior at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, discovered impact investment in the classroom. Impact investment, a financial approach that addressed both profit-making and social-environmental challenges, aligned monetary choices with values. This type of investment sought to generate not only financial returns but also positive social and environmental impact, addressing sustainability concerns across various sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, conservation, microfinance, and essential services, including housing, healthcare, and education. Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) had emerged as an appealing avenue for impact investing, facilitated by innovative fintech (financial technology) firms. These platforms harnessed investments for social and economic progress. Intrigued, Sarah focused on Agrise, a pioneering P2P lending agricultural fintech headquartered in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. Agrise linked investors with Indonesian farmers which aligned with Sarah's ideals. Her journey with Agrise, however, diverged from her expectations. Her investment yielded lower returns than anticipated, and her loan capital remained partly unpaid. This unanticipated outcome led her to question the viability of impact investments. She found herself wondering what had gone wrong with her decision to invest in Agrise.