Qasir CEO Michael Williem said Africa and the Middle East had many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that wanted to scale up their businesses and were open to digitalization.

“We have received requests from Indonesian people who have businesses abroad,” he said in a press conference on Thursday. “We will focus on these regions, but we will see which country has good organic growth before localizing our solution for that market.”

Qasir released its English-language service throughout Southeast Asia last week, and since then has seen more than 2,000 downloads in Vietnam without advertising or promotion, making it Qasir’s largest market after Indonesia.

Michael said the decision to opt for the Southeast Asian market was because countries in the region had cultural similarities, such as the kopi tiam coffee shop culture, and a high rate of digitalization amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Digital acceleration because of the pandemic is a moment that will not present itself again, and this [is] an opportunity to expand our market and [offer our product] in other countries,” he added.

The Southeast Asian POS market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.4 percent in the 2021-2026 forecast period, according to market research company Mordor Intelligence.

Read also: 10 million SMEs go digital amid pandemic

Michael went on to say that, by the end of the year, the company aimed to have more than 1 million users, with 8 percent from outside Indonesia.

Qasir claimed this month to have 750,000 users across Indonesia, mainly in Java, East Kalimantan and Bali.

The company was established in 2015 and initially offered only a smart cashier solution, before adding more services, such as its warung (kiosk) digitalizing program Miqro and premium website features for businesses.

Michael said that Qasir was raising funds to develop more products and promote POS solutions in a wider market.

POS applications and warung digitalization have become more popular amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted more than 10 million SMEs to adopt digital solutions.

Read also: Tech giants race to digitize ‘warung’

According to the DSInnovate Startup Report 2020, software as a service (SaaS) companies, including those offering SME cashflow apps and POS services, saw 17 investment deals. The popularity of SaaS among investors was only just behind the fintech industry, which saw 18 deals.

Start-up BukuWarung became the most recent POS firm to receive funding when it bagged US$60 million in series A funding from United States-based Valar Ventures and Goodwater Capital in June.

Last year, omnichannel smart cashier firm iSeller raised series A funds from Mandiri Capital and Openspace Ventures.