Aiming to attract an even larger pool of institutional investments, Malaysian P2P firm Microleap will be expanding its Shariah compliant operations into Indonesia and the Philippines by early 2026, Founder and CEO Danny Nasaifuddin Mudzaffar shared with IFN Investor.
“We are looking to go into the Mindanao region and assist in the underserved economic sector there. This will be a 100%-owned subsidiary of Microleap Malaysia offering fully Shariah compliant financing, which can then extend to Manila and the rest of the Philippines.”
This expansion is to further open investment opportunities for the firm to woo institutional investors, beyond government agencies, as Danny said several outfits are already parking their funds with Microleap to earn higher returns than traditional channels like bank deposits.
Major institutional investments made via Microleap recently include RM28 million (US$6.63 million) by the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit, or Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) and RM70 million (US$16.58 million) by SME Corporation Malaysia.
With many foreign entities keen to tap into the economic potential of Mindanao, which recently forged a peace treaty to end local insurgency and foster development on this southern Philippines island, there is a strong preference to invest via an independent but regulated firm like this, noted Danny.
Beyond Mindanao, the Philippines’ population is about 100 million but there are few P2P operations there available for both retail and institutional investors – reinforcing its prospects for expansion in this archipelago.
“We will continue to focus on assisting government agencies to distribute funds to MSMEs which may find it hard to get financing from traditional means like banks and such.”
Moving into Indonesia brings a different set of challenges for Microleap, as the market there is already saturated with almost 100 P2P operations – but less than 10 are offering Shariah compliant financing options, despite the nation having a huge Muslim population.
Optimistic that there is a lot of room for Shariah compliant P2P investing in Indonesia, Microleap is looking to purchase an existing P2P outfit rather than starting fresh. There will also be continued focus within its Malaysian base as the firm eyes growth potential in less-developed states like Kelantan, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu.
Looking to raise around RM50 million (US$11.84 million) to cover such expansion costs, the P2P firm will soon undertake a Series A funding round among family offices and institutions within Southeast Asia. This activity will be conducted separately from the usual P2P operations.
Having charted an upward trajectory since it was established in 2019, Q1 2025 saw Microleap deploying investors’ funds totaling RM67 million (US$15.87 million) across 85 Islamic financing notes – with returns averaging 16.9% per annum and a 0.48% default rate.
