These past years have seen Indonesia emerging into one of the hottest fintech markets in Southeast Asia, attracting local and foreign investors with the prospect of leveraging technology to address the massive pool of unbanked and underbanked individuals.

In 2021, Indonesia attracted the second-strongest fintech funding across ASEAN, securing US$904 million, or 26% of all fintech investment in the region, data from UOB, PwC Singapore and the Singapore Fintech Association show. This year, the momentum is continuing with already a number of fast-growing fintech startups securing significant amounts of capital.

To get a sense of Indonesia’s fintech leaders and up-and-coming super stars, we look today at some of the country’s most well-funded private fintech companies and what they’ve been up to.

For this list, we’ve used disclosed information and publicly available data, and have excluded fintech companies operating in Indonesia but with headquarters overseas, such as Singapore’s FinAccel, the operator of buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Kredivo, and Modalku, the local brand of Singaporean peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup Funding Societies.

Xendit – US$538 million

Founded in 2014, Xendit provides payment solutions and simplifies the payment process for businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines and across Southeast Asia, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and e-commerce startups to large enterprises.

Xendit enables businesses to accept payments from a large range of methods including credit and debit cards, e-wallets, virtual accounts and online installments, disburse payroll, run marketplaces, and more, on an easy integration platform supported by 24/7 customer service.

Xendit claims more than 3,000 customers, including some of Southeast Asia’s largest merchants such as Samsung Indonesia, GrabPay, Ninja Van Philippines, Qoala, Unicef Indonesia, Cashalo and Shopback.

Xendit has raised more than US$538 million in funding and the startup is valued US$1 billion.

Akulaku – US$320 million

Founded in 2016, Akulaku is a leading banking and digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, with a presence in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Akulaku aims to meet the daily financial needs of underserved customers in emerging markets through digital banking, digital financing, digital investment, and insurance brokerage services.

In addition to the Akulaku virtual credit card and ecommerce platform, the company operates Asetku, an online wealth management platform, and Neobank, a mobile digital bank supported by Bank Neo Commerce.

The company claims 26 million users and 4.8 monthly active users in 2021. Last year, Akulaku’s total revenue grew by 122% to US$598 million and total gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased by 136% to US$5.8 billion.

Akulaku has raised about US$320 million in funding, according to Dealroom, and it’s the most valuable fintech startup in Indonesia, valued at US$2 billion.

Ajaib – US$245 million

Established in 2018, Ajaib is an online brokerage that allows Indonesians to buy and sell stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. The investing platform targets first-time Millennial investors in Indonesia, with the goal of increasing financial inclusion.

Ajaib has not offer commission-free trading, but it does have lower fees compared to its competitors. The company also claims to be the first online stockbroker in Indonesia to have scrapped minimum capital requirements.

Ajaib says it has emerged into the third-largest brokerage by the number of transactions in Indonesia, with over 1 million investors based on its platform.

The startup joined the unicorn club after a US$153 million fundraise in October 2021 which brought its total funding to more than US$245 million, according to CB Insights and Dealroom.

KoinWorks – US$180 million

KoinWorks assists e-commerce vendors, social commerce sellers and freelancers in starting and growing their businesses. The startup provides a variety of products for them to access loans and increase productivity, including incorporated SME neobanking services, working capital, factoring, early wage access (EWA) and fund management.

The KoinWorks platform has an integrated marketplace for SMEs that combines account management software, a point of sale (POS) system, an e-commerce human resource management system (HRMS) and a budgeting application, as well as other KoinWorks products.

KoinWorks claims a user base of 1.5 million customers across Indonesia. The startup closed a US$108 million Series C funding round in January 2022, which brought its total funding to US$180 million, according to Techcrunch.

Pintu – US$156 million

Launched in 2020, Pintu is a beginner-friendly cryptocurrency exchange platform. Pintu supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies and has a number of payment integrations to make it easier for users to deposit and withdraw funds.

Features include Pintu Earn, which offers up to 15% annual percentage yield, Pintu Staking, which allows for staking of the platform’s native Pintu token, and Pintu Academy, an educational platform that teaches beginning cryptocurrency traders how to invest while managing risks.

Pintu counts about 5 million users, Pintu’s CMO Timothius Martin told CoinDesk earlier this month. The startup closed a US$113 million Series B funding round this month, which brought its total funding to US$156 million, according to Techcrunch.

Lummo – US$150 million

Lummo provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that helps entrepreneurs and brands build their own retail websites, sell directly to consumers via WhatsApp and other social media platforms, and do digital bookkeeping.

The startup was launched in 2019 as BukuKas, a bookkeeping app for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). It later expanded its business by launching in 2020 Tokko (rebranded to LummoSHOP), an online direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce builder.

Lummo claims it saw its GMV grow 11x from December 2020 to December 2021. Krishnan Menon, founder and CEO of Lummo, told Bloomberg earlier this year that close to seven million small businesses have registered to use its platform since the end of 2019.

Lummo closed a US$80 million Series C funding round in January 2022, bringing its total investment to more than US$150 million. The company’s valuation is estimated at US$500 million.

Pluang – US$113 million

Founded in 2019, Pluang is a wealthtech startup developing a multi-asset class, single stop shop for investments and personal finance. The company providing access to a broad base of asset classes through its micro-savings and micro-investment products, allowing Indonesian retail investors to invest in a broad suite of asset classes while ensuring a simple and frictionless experience.

Pluang’s micro-saving and micro-investment products are integrated with regional super apps Gojek, DANA, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak. The company claims more than four million registered users in Indonesia.

Pluang closed a US$55 million in a Series B funding round in January 2022, bringing its total funding to US$113 million, according to data from CB Insights and Dealroom.

Julo – US$105 million

Founded in 2016, Julo is a digital credit company that provides affordable, unsecured personal loans for consumers by connecting borrowers to institutional lenders.

Julo has developed a digital data-driven credit underwriting and risk assessment platform to process consumer credit applications and determine their creditworthiness swiftly using a mobile app.

Julo says the total number of funds disbursed in 2021 grew by more than three times as compared to the year prior. The startup has served more than 350,000 customers and says its app has been downloaded by more than five million users.

Julo closed a US$80 million funding round in April 2022, bringing its total funding raised to US$105 million, according to Dealroom.

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash