Jakarta, Indonesia — Akulaku, a Southeast Asian digital banking and finance platform, announced a US$100m investment from Thailand full-service bank Siam Commercial Bank.
This deal follows Akulaku’s successful funding of US$125m in 2021, co-led by Silverhorn Group as an existing investor and Akulaku’s financing partner since 2018. The company’s bank subsidiary, Bank Neo Commerce (BNC), also completed a public rights issue on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for approximately US$175m in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Founded in 2016, Akulaku has grown to become a notable Buy Now Pay Later and consumer financing platform in Indonesia, disbursing over USD$2.2b of credit in 2021 to over 6 million users. Building on that success, BNC launched its mobile digital banking services in March 2021 and has seen remarkable growth in digital bank users in Indonesia with over 13 million customers today.
Southeast Asia’s digital retail market is growing exponentially with over 80% of consumers now participating in e-commerce. Akulaku’s digital credit services aim to capitalize on this growth to further accelerate the digital transformation of retail in the region, providing a new market of consumers’ access to flexible banking services.
William Li, CEO of Akulaku, commented, “We founded Akulaku to meet the daily financial needs of underserved customers in emerging markets. Our recent round of funding will allow us to continue that vision by further expanding the geographic reach of our offerings across Southeast Asia and enable us to continue introducing new innovations to serve our customers.”
Dr Arak Sutivong, president of Siam Commercial Bank, said, “This investment in Akulaku marks our continued commitment and strong belief in the long-term prospects of Indonesia as one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the region. Akulaku has a dominant market position and is well-positioned with its innovative technology and superior product offerings. We are excited about the investment in the company and look forward to leveraging our deep expertise in Thailand’s financial services sector to support its expansion. The investment in Akulaku fits within our regional thesis of serving the underserved market using digital innovations. We look forward to partnering with Akulaku as the company continues to grow.”
