Can FinAccel’s digital bank boost its upcoming IPO?

FinAccel announced its plans to list in the US in August 2021. Half a year later, amid the worsening global economy, those plans were shelved.

But that setback turned out to be temporary. The Singapore-headquartered fintech firm went on to have a busy 2022: It doubled down on its digibank ambitions, made a series of leadership hires, and raised a US$140 million series D round.

The fundraise also made FinAccel a unicorn valued at over US$1.6 billion.

“Despite the negative sentiment of pulling out from the SPAC IPO, the company has actually been performing at its peak,” says Aldi Adrian Hartanto, vice president of investments at FinAccel backer MDI Ventures. “According to the SPAC prospectus, FinAccel’s metrics are superior even when compared to its global peers.”

Going public remains the ultimate goal. In December 2022, group CEO and chairman Akshay Garg said that FinAccel would be working “toward an IPO in the next 12 to 24 months.”

Recently joining FinAccel’s board of directors is Allen Shim, who oversaw Slack’s acquisition by Salesforce as the former’s CFO. Meanwhile, former Goldman Sachs managing director Anshul Krishan joined FinAccel’s advisory board.

So what’s the path forward? While Kredivo – its buy now, pay later product – remains the company’s most mature business, all eyes will likely be on its digital bank Krom Bank.

FinAccel declined to participate in this story.

Growth or profit?

Krom Bank was previously known as Bank Bisnis Internasional, a publicly listed bank targeting SMEs and retail customers via the usual savings, time deposit, and loan products.

In May 2021, FinAccel acquired a 24% stake in Bank Bisnis Internasional for US$38 million with the intention of transforming it into a digital bank.

To be clear, while Bank Bisnis Internasional has rebranded to Krom Bank, its new digital banking app is only expected to launch in Indonesia in the first half of 2023.

FinAccel’s stake in the bank has since gone up to 75% as of April 2022.

In preparation for its launch, Krom Bank recently raised about US$60 million through a rights issue. This fulfills the new rule from Indonesia’s financial services authority that was implemented in December 2022, which requires banks to have at least 3 trillion rupiah (US$200 million) in paid-up capital.

Completing the trifecta