Fintech player BukuWarung raises USD 60 mn in fresh funding

The platform which helps Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to digitize their business, said the USD 60 million funding led by US-based VC firms Valar Ventures and Goodwater Capital is the largest Series A round of funding to any MSME player globally.

This brings BukuWarung's total funding till date to approximately USD 80 million (about Rs 584.51 crore), the company said in a release on Thursday.

On investors in the fresh round included existing investors such as Quona Capital, angel investors --former GoPay Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aldi Haryopratomo, Victor Jacobsson, founder of Europe's most valuable startup, Klarna, and Ravish Naresh, Khatabook CEO as well as partners from SoftBank, Trihill Capital.

BukuWarung said the funds will be used to enhance its technology and product capabilities across its core accounting, digital payments, and commerce products – including building a robust payments infrastructure to solve deeper use cases for Indonesian merchants, such as QR payments, financial services.

Also, BukuWarung plans to hire in Bengaluru and other remote locations in India as the company looks to strengthen its technology and product capabilities by doubling down the team size.

The company will also enhance its offerings with more MSME-focused financial services such as lending, savings, insurance among others and to bring their businesses online, especially post-COVID-19.

The fintech player said it has grown its team size by five times in the last six months to 150 and aims to double its size to 300 across Indonesia, Singapore, India including in remote locations.

The Indonesian Fintech company was founded by Indian entrepreneurs Chinmay Chauhan and Abhinay Peddisetty.