The country is one of Grab's primary markets, where the ride hailer has been vying with competitor Gojek for the top spot in digital payments.
Indonesian fintech LinkAja has closed a $1oo million series B funding round led by Singapore super app Grab, with participation from Telkomsel, BRI Ventura Investama and Mandiri Capital, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
Formed from a consortium of state-owned enterprises, LinkAja operates an e-wallet and merchant services business focusing on the middle class, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) segments in Indonesia.
The strategic investment from Grab allows both parties to collaborate on areas of market access and technology, and LinkAja will use the funds to accelerate growth, the statement said.
Burgeoning Market
«Cash is still the main medium of exchange in Indonesia, and there are millions of Indonesians who are still unreached by the traditional banking system,» Neneng Goenadi, managing director of Grab Indonesia, said in the announcement.
According to the company, it has acquired more than 58 million registered users – more than 80 percent coming from tier 2 and 3 Indonesian cities – since its launch in June last year. Amid the pandemic, LinkAja was able to increase the gross transaction value (GTV) and the number of transactions in the third quarter of 2020 (July - September) by three times, compared to the same period in the previous year.
At the same time, Grab announced the launch of a regional innovation hub in Indonesia, which will focus on researching, designing and testing tools and technology for the Indonesian MSME market, before exporting it to other emerging markets in Southeast Asia.
