CekAja and eCompareMo get series B funding from Telstra Ventures to grow fintech empire

Illustration by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan.

Telstra Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Australian telecommunications firm, announced today a strategic investment in fintech group C88 Financial Technologies’ series B round. C88’s existing investors Monk’s Hill Ventures and Kejora Ventures, as well as Captii Ventures, Altitude Partners, Jasrag Investments, and several individual investors also participated.

The parties didn’t disclose the financial details.

The group will use the money to grow market share.

C88 owns and operates financial websites in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its assets CekAja in Indonesia and eCompareMo in the Philippines connect banks and insurers with consumers looking to apply for loans, mortgages, and insurance products. C88 also co-operates Premiro, a licensed insurance e-brokerage services provider in Indonesia.

Telstra Ventures managing director Matthew Koertge explains why they invested in the group. “Across its platforms, C88 combines a personalized data-driven experience for its consumers with easy-to-use web and mobile experiences, as well as back-office infrastructure, including call centers and sales distribution networks to complete transactions.”

C88 will use the money to “scale” market leadership by boosting mass market branding, according to co-founder and CEO JP Ellis.

This is Telstra Ventures’ fourth investment in Asia over the past year. The VC firm’s significant investments in the region to date include voice technology startup Enepath (Singapore), location intelligence startup Near (Singapore), cloud-storage provider Qiniu (Shanghai), and Chinese communications API provider Cloopen (Beijing). It also backs Monk’s Hill Ventures.