Singapore Fintech wins Asia’s largest fundraising since SVB’s fall

by James · March 22, 2023

(Bloomberg) — Fintech company Kredivo Holdings raised about $270 million in equity funding, defying a market correction that has made it difficult for many startups to raise new capital.

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The Singapore-based firm, formerly known as FinAccel Pte and operator of fintech platform Kredivo and Krom Bank Indonesia, entered into a financing deal led by Mizuho Financial Group Inc., it said in a statement on Thursday without disclosing its valuation. Existing investors including Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures and Naver Corp. also participated in the series D round.

The fundraising shows that some startups are still finding capital, even as the venture industry struggles with rising interest rates, increased inflation and a technological downturn. Investors, once excited to write checks, are becoming more discerning and doling out less favorable terms. Kredivo’s round is the largest announced in Asia since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse shocked the startup ecosystem earlier this month.

Last year, Kredivo sought financing at a pre-money valuation of $1.5 billion after its planned merger with a blank check company collapsed. Before that, it had reached a value of around $2 billion.

The company, whose services include buy-now, pay-later financing, will use the funds to build its presence in offline stores and expand into Indonesia’s highly competitive digital banking space, Abhijay Sethia, chief strategy officer at Kredivo, said in an interview.

The region’s fintech players are aggressively expanding their suite of financial services in Indonesia, a country of around 273 million people where many have limited access to bank accounts and credit cards. Kredivo has been offering consumer loans and payments for seven years, giving it an edge against competitors from industries such as e-commerce, ride-hailing and gaming, Sethia said.

“What Indonesians need at this time is access to credit, which is what they have been sorely lacking for years,” he said.

Kredivo’s peer, Ant Group Co.-backed Akulaku Inc., has a stake in Jakarta-based Bank Neo Commerce while Singapore’s Sea Ltd. bought Bank BKE in 2021 to gain a foothold in the fintech arena.

Ride-hailing and food delivery platform Grab Holdings Ltd. merged with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. to buy a minority stake in Bank Fama – now Super Bank Indonesia – while in 2021 rival Gojek spent around $160 million to increase its stake in PT Bank Jago.