Kuelap provides transparent, real-time and secure digital cooperative platform services by combining cloud-native technology to help MSMEs grow better.
The team first gathered at the Grameen Technology Center in 2005. At Grameen, we articulated our vision and created software for group lending on the principle of joint responsibility. Our system was first adopted by Cooperative Finance in Grameen Koota India, which has increased its member base from 25,000 borrowers to 1,000,000.
Subsequently, we established the Mifos Initiative to build and implement a Core Banking System for cooperative financial services. From 2011 - 2017 we have served 245 institutions, with a total of 6 million members in 37 countries.
In 2017 we founded Kuelap to build a stronger digital platform for cooperative financial services. We provide these platforms along with digital transformation programs to ensure the sustainability and success of the cooperative. Our solution has served village new cooperatives in Cameroon and cooperatives in Indonesia, and continues to grow nationally.
Kuelap is led by an international team of experienced top executives from all over the world.
Craig Chelius
Throughout his career from 1988 to the present, Craig Chelius is known as...
Mahendrato Adi
Mahendrato “Hendra” Adi has devoted his career to empowering...
Dimas A. Yudhistira
Dimas Yudhistira brings more than 20 years of experience in...
Kemal Ilham Gobel
With more than 10 years of experience managing...
Paul Maritz
After 14 years of career from 1986 - 2000, Paul Maritz, a retired from Microsoft...
Lisa Nelson
Lisa Nelson has worked for 25 years as a senior executive, specifically as a corporate...
Craig Chelius
Throughout his career from 1988 to the present, Craig Chelius is known as...
Jonathan Ncube
Jonathan Ncube, a graduate of The Art Institutes, is a specialist with experience in...
Robert Elles
Robert Elles, a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Technomathematics...
Menara Rajawali, Jl. DR. Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung No.5, Jakarta - 12950
kuelap.support.ind@kuelap.io
+62 821-1195-8775
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Throughout his career from 1988 to the present, Craig Chelius is known as a strategic marketing genius, who has helped many companies grow more rapidly through the strategies he has designed. In addition, due to his interest in financial services and the banking industry, Craig has spent 10 years of his career improving financial and banking services. His mission was successful, for the past five years, Craig as Co-Founder of Kuelap has succeeded in transforming banking to help make it easier for business people to run their business finances digitally. Craig’s contribution to the world of finance has been seen before joining the Grameen Foundation, such as being the Co-Founder of Primus Knowledge Solutions, Vital Strategist, Protelus Corporation, and Mifos Initiative.
Mahendrato “Hendra” Adi has devoted his career to empowering cooperatives in his home country of Indonesia. For the last 17 years, Hendra has worked with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to provide loans that help business owners improve their quality of life and propel the Indonesian economy forward. From his early roles in micro credit analysis and business development for some of Indonesia’s leading banks to his current position as Chief Executive Officer at Kuelap Indonesia, Hendra’s career has been marked by consistency, lending expertise, and a passion for impact investing.
As CEO, Hendra enhances Kuelap Indonesia’s business model, drawing on his background in government finance to implement processes that ensure the company’s operational success. Leveraging a wide network of stakeholders, Hendra drives fintech partnerships that bring new technical capabilities to the lending platform and digitalize the end-to-end lending process between Lenders, Financial Institutions, Cooperatives and MSMEs.
Previously, Hendra served as Impact Investment Manager for the global crowdfunding platform Kiva Microfunds, where he played a major role in introducing Indonesian cooperatives and MFIs to the global stage. He managed a special project between Kiva and Google’s Small Business Resilience Fund, disbursing loan in assistance to MFIs affected by COVID-19. Prior to his role with Kiva, Hendra held numerous roles with LPDB-KUMKM, a national financial institution providing Indonesian cooperatives and MSMEs with revolving fund management.
Hendra holds his Master of Arts in Global Development and Entrepreneurship from South Korea’s Handong Global University. He is the recipient of the 2018 Australia Award for Technology Enabled Start-Ups, awarded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to emerging leaders from developing countries.
Dimas Yudhistira brings more than 20 years of experience in finance, business development, sales, and marketing to his role as Chief Commercial Officer at Kuelap Indonesia. An expert in microfinance lending, Dimas believes in the potential of small businesses to make a major impact in Indonesia’s emerging economy.
As CCO, Dimas drives revenue by spearheading partnerships and introducing creative sales strategies across departments. Drawing on his background in public finance and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, Dimas partners with banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), marketing platforms, and government ministries to connect more cooperatives with Kuelap’s core lending product.
Dimas held roles in both government and private organizations before joining Kuelap; his multifaceted experience equipped him with a unique perspective into Indonesia’s financial ecosystem. Previously, he served in business development and program management roles with e-payment provider LinkAja and P2P lending company Mekar, where he boosted new business among sharia and traditional cooperatives.
During his eight-year tenure as Head of Sharia Financing & Business with the government lending institution LPDB-KUMKM, Dimas implemented an innovative loan distribution increase strategy that propelled market expansion and targeted Islamic coops and MFIs.
Dimas spent his early career in financial operations roles for several banks and gained additional marketing skills with magazine publisher and leading lifestyle media company Femina Group. He obtained his Master of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Management from Bogor Agricultural University, and his Bachelor of Business Management from the University of Indonesia.
With more than 10 years of experience managing financial operations within industries ranging from fintech to energy and aviation, Ilham Gobel brings persistence and adaptability to each new endeavor. An integrity-driven financial leader, Ilham challenges his teams to justify every expense and believes that learning from failure is the key to success.
As Chief Finance & Operations Officer for Kuelap Indonesia (KI), Ilham establishes critical financial frameworks and oversees diverse administrative activities across legal, HR, and general affairs (GA) functions. In this role to-date, Ilham has overhauled KI’s accounting systems to improve their transparency and sustainability as the company grows. He also facilitates the large-scale recruitment and screening of skilled engineers to support KI’s lending platform.
Before joining Kuelap, Ilham held leadership roles at multiple Indonesian fintech companies, including VOSPAY, a digital transaction provider. As Vice President of Finance & Accounting, Ilham oversaw daily financial operations and guided the board’s major financial decisions. Both as VP and in his previous role as Head of Finance for the global company Servcorp, Ilham applied his keen eye for error and strong sense of accountability to save tens of thousands of dollars in annual costs through strategic purchasing and contract renegotiation.
One of Ilham’s earliest roles impacts him to this day. As the Purchasing Officer for AirAsia, Malaysia’s largest airline, Ilham served on the company’s Crisis Center Team following the crash of one of its flights in 2014. As the office’s sole Jakarta-based employee at the time, Ilham maintained smooth operations and developed a sense of calm under pressure during a tumultuous period for the staff and company.
Ilham holds his Bachelor of Economy in Financial Accounting from Universitas Islam Indonesia. He hopes to deliver on the vision of Kuelap Inc.’s CEO by ensuring the Indonesian branch remains a competitive, cost-effective, financially compliant leader in the microlending space.
After 14 years of career from 1986 – 2000, Paul Maritz, a retired from Microsoft, is better known as a technology visionary and cloud initiator. Starting out because of his interest in the world of technology investment, Paul is also known as an angel investor among the software business and has supported many startup companies to be able to develop further. In addition, throughout his career in the technology world, Paul has contributed to various companies as CEO of PI Corp and VMware from 2003 – 2012. In fact, for the last 9 years, Paul has served as the founder and CEO of Pivotal Software, a company that focuses on on software technology development in the cloud era. His love for the world of technology continues to this day, at Kuelap Indonesia, Paul serves as director and chairman.
Lisa Nelson has worked for 25 years as a senior executive, specifically as a corporate adviser at various fortune500 companies. For more than 2 decades, thanks to her insight, expertise and experience in the technology industry and the financial sector, she has been able to bring Lisa to develop various valuable perspectives in her working environment on digital transformation, business growth strategy, risk management for complex environments to capital allocation. In addition, Lisa’s experience has not only helped start-ups but up to multi-national companies. In contributing to her career, Lisa is also known as a leader at Microsoft for 14 years, even Lisa as the founder who founded a Microsoft subsidiary called Microsoft Ventures (M12). Aside from being a corporate adviser, in the field of finance Lisa is known as a professional financial expert with CPA and SEC qualifications.
Jonathan Ncube, a graduate of The Art Institutes, is a specialist with experience in program management, especially in financial services. His first career started by joining Arikho Suites as Assistant Managing Director, after which Jonathan joined Lloyds Banking Group which brought him deeper into the world of PMO. For more than a decade, Jonathan has performed well in every job, such as his contribution in Project management, RAID Management, Financial Management, Program Reporting & Auditing and Resource Management. Not only that, Jonathan is also known as a Technology & Business Consultant and PMO analyst. Currently, Jonathan is active in program management at Kuelap Inc.
Robert Elles, a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Technomathematics from Technische Universität Berlin, has been involved in the world of technology until now he is actively serving as Chief Technology Officer at Kuelap Inc. Prior to joining Kuelap, Robert was a Trainee and Software Developer in the dep. of Scientific IT Systems at Forschungszentrum Jülich, research center for three years. In addition, Robert also has expertise as a Senior Software Engineer in several companies such as Primervoto gmbh. From there, Robert continued to explore the world of technology by utilizing the knowledge he gained at college and his insights and experience at work. Together with Kuelap Inc., Robert manages every inch of technology services required by Kuelap.
