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Investment apps all the rage in Indonesia
Venture capital firms and other financiers have taken a keen interest in the industry lately, so much so that investment apps attracted almost a quarter of all fintech funding this year.
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Investment technology makes up 24 percent of the total US$904 million in fintech funding in Indonesia so far this year. (Shutterstock/File)
I
nvestment apps have received a big chunk of the capital poured into fintech companies in Indonesia lately as mutual fund investment has gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 edition of the "FinTech in ASEAN" report published by Singapore-based UOB, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) shows that investment technology made up 24 percent of the US$904 million fintech funding in Indonesia, second only to 36 percent that went to payment platforms.
That is in stark contrast to last year, when the report mentioned no funding for Indonesia's investment tech segment, while payment platforms received 35 percent of around $180 million invested in fintech in the country in 2020.
“Investment tech is viewed by venture capitalist [VC] firms interviewed as the most interesting component within the fintech space,” the report states. “VCs predict closer involvement between investment tech firms, digibanks and digital banks, with many digi-banking apps across ASEAN offering basic wealth advisory services.”
Investment tech companies have enjoyed a stream of funding recently, a case in point being mutual fund investment app Bibit, which bagged $95 million from two funding rounds in 2021.
However, homegrown investment tech company Ajaib took the cake this year and has become the first investment fintech unicorn in Southeast Asia. It raised $153 million in October, though that funding is not accounted for in the report, which only looks at the January through September period.
