Atome CEO steps down, to join GoTo Financial

Atome CEO David Chen / Photo credit: Atome

Continuing a recent string of management shakeups in Southeast Asia’s startup scene, Atome CEO David Chen has stepped down from the company. Chen will join GoTo Financial, the fintech arm of Indonesia’s GoTo Group, as head of consumer lending.

Chen will remain as co-founder of Advance Intelligence Group, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) service’s parent firm, a company spokesperson confirmed.

Before leading Atome in 2018, Chen founded and led Nestia, a consumer lifestyle app. He also held research and engineering roles at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Yahoo in the mid- to late 2000s.

His departure from Atome adds to the list of CEO and co-founder exits announced this year, which includes companies like Carousell, Modalku, and 17Live.

Through GoTo Financial, GoTo offers services like digital wallet GoPay and BNPL product GoPay Later.

While GoPay was previously bundled in the Gojek app, a standalone app was launched for the e-wallet in August 2023. More recently, GoTo Financial teamed up with its affiliate Bank Jago to introduce GoPay Tabungan by Jago, a bank account for daily transactions that is accessible through the GoPay and Gojek apps.

Meanwhile, Atome is present in five countries across Southeast Asia. Its parent Advance Intelligence Group is valued at roughly US$2 billion, according to Tech in Asia data.

Backers include SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Warburg Pincus, and EDBI.

However, Atome in July last year confirmed its exit from the Vietnam market to Tech in Asia, saying that “Vietnam’s contribution to our overall business was limited.”

See also: What GoPay’s new standalone app says about GoTo’s ‘super-app’ strategy