On the unicorn track
- Akshay Garg, CEO and co-founder of 500-backed FinAccel, appeared on CNBC Indonesia. He spoke about the trend of tech startups going public and nationally and the outlook of the ’buy now, pay later’ industry.
- According to the media outlet, FinAccel is the first Indonesian tech startup and first Southeast Asian fintech startup to list in the United States. Having achieved this in less than 6 years, it is also the fastest startup to go from seed stage to public listing.
- Why is a milestone like this is rare for Southeast Asian startups? Akshay shared that economically, the region is still in the early stages of growth. He added that fragmentation and diversity in the region make penetration more difficult for a business to operate compared to places like China or India.
- He also revealed that the startup aims to raise more than US$400 million from the listing exercise.
- Watch the full interview on CNBC here.
Managing cash safely
- 500-backed fintech startup Ayannah has partnered with e-wallet GCash to launch a new money remittance service called GCash Padala. It will enable over 40 million GCash users to send money to millions of unbanked Filipinos.
- With this new service, users can send money from their mobile phones even to recipients who do not have an e-wallet or mobile bank account. Recipients can then claim their cash at over 2,000 participating centers across the country.
- Ayannah plans to add thousands more in the coming weeks. The startup hopes to reduce the need for traveling as the country continues to enforce lockdown measures.
- Read the full story here.
Fighting fraud
- With the rise of interest in roboadvisor investing, financial frauds and scams also abound. 500-backed digital investment platform Bibit has been actively educating its users to be vigilant online.
- “We found more than 20 Telegram and Facebook groups using Bibit’s name. The groups’ creators persuade members to deposit their money into the admins’ accounts to invest on the Bibit platform. They also promise fixed and large profits,” said Bibit’s head of PR and communications, William.
- Combined, these groups have tens of thousands of members. The startup is currently coordinating with Indonesia’s financial authority to remove those groups. Bibit also often reminds users to be more careful and not follow accounts other than the company’s official pages.
- According to William, there are about 1 million monthly active users on Bibit, with more than US$349.2 million worth of assets under management. Nearly 90% of Bibit’s users are below 35 years old.
- Read the full story on KrAsia here.
