Akulaku investors to sell $100m at 30% discount

Indonesian fintech major Akulaku’s preferred shareholders are seeking to sell $100 million worth of shares at a discount of 20% to 30% from its latest funding round, according to VentureCap Insights data. In December 2022, the company secured $200 million from Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and became a unicorn after Siam Commercial Bank invested $100 million. Other investors in the firm include Ant Group, Sequoia Capital, and IDG Capital. VentureCap currently values Akulaku at around $1.7 billion.

Akulaku, founded in 2014, offers services such as consumer credit, buy now pay later, and digital banking via Bank Neo Commerce and online wealth management through Asetku. Bank Neo Commerce performed well, with net interest income rising 301.98% to $15.1 million in January 2023, up from $3.8 million in the same month last year. The company also recorded $440,000 in profit, a stark improvement from a loss of around $10.4 million in the same period last year.

Akulaku has planned to increase its stake in Bank Neo Commerce to about 40% ahead of a planned IPO in the coming months. Akulaku is also one of the companies that has been in early talks with Patrick Grove’s Catcha Investment Corp, a special purpose acquisition company established by the Catcha Group co-founder. Akulaku’s latest funding round came amid increased competition in Indonesia’s fintech sector, as well as regulatory changes that require companies to own at least 85% of their digital banking subsidiaries.

Akulaku is just one of several Indonesian fintech companies that have recently been in the news. Last month, Bank Mandiri planned to buy P2P lender KoinWorks, and BRI Ventures invested in the crowdfunding platform, Investree. The country has seen a surge in interest from global investors, particularly after its digital economy’s rapid growth in recent years, and its fintech sector, in particular, has seen significant investment.