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Fintech start-up Akseleran raises $8.55m in Series A funding
The fintech start-up has targeted disbursing Rp 2 trillion in P2P loans to SMEs this year.
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Akseleran CEO and co-founder Ivan Tambunan (third left) speaks about the fintech start-up's performance and future plans at a press conference on Jan. 16, 2020 in Jakarta. (Akseleran/Akseleran)
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inancial technology (fintech) start-up Akseleran, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lender based in Jakarta, announced that it had raised US$8.55 million in Series A funding in its bid to capture a larger slice of Indonesia's small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) market.
The start-up said in a statement on Wednesday that Singaporean venture capital firm BeeNext led the Series A round. Other participating investors were Central Capital Ventura (CCV), a subsidiary of privately owned Bank Central Asia (BCA), Access Ventures, Agaeti Venture Capital and the Ahabe Group.
Akseleran said it would use the funds to develop its talent and technology.
Co-founder Ivan Tambunan said that the fintech start-up planned to expand its lender base by offering “a higher return on investment through a safe and efficient platform”. It also aimed to “penetrate deeper into the Indonesian market, particularly in underserved areas”.
Akseleran has disbursed more than Rp 1 trillion ($73.27 million) in loans to 2,000 MSMEs since its establishment in October 2017, and plans to disburse Rp 2 trillion this year.
Indonesian SMEs, which contribute around 23 percent to the economy, are a lucrative market for the country’s growing fintech industry. SMEs located in more remote regions beyond the reach of conventional banks but still have access to mobile networks, are particularly lucrative.
Akseleran is one of 12 fintechs in the P2P lending business that received their lending permit from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in December 2019. The permit certifies that the company meets the government's data security standards.
Agaeti managing partner Pandu Sjahrir, who is also a director at coal miner Toba Bara Sejahtera, hinted that Akseleran's certification was one reason the venture capital company had invested in the start-up, as it indicated that Akseleran could “reliably support the financing gap of SMEs”.
