East Ventures, Beenext lead Indonesian cross-border remittance startup’s seed round

Transfez, a cross-border money transfer service based in Indonesia, has raised an undisclosed amount in its seed round that was co-led by East Ventures and Beenext.

The company will use the fresh funds for product development and to increase market penetration.

Transfez CTO Bondan Herumurti (left) and CEO Edo Windratno / Photo credit: Transfez

Founded in 2020, Transfez allows users to transfer money to over 50 countries in 26 currencies. While it’s focusing on the B2C market right now, the company said it plans to tap into the B2B payment sector in the near future.

According to the Indonesian central bank-licensed company’s CTO Bondan Herumurti, the cross-border payment sector in Indonesia is a US$370 billion market. Locally, Transfez competes with companies such as Singapore-based Nium and London-based Wise, previously known as TransferWise.

Their services are needed for migrant workers to be able to send money to their families back home, for parents to pay for the school fees of their children who are studying abroad, and for SMEs to purchase inventory from foreign suppliers.

Transfez shared that it’s on track to process 1.5 trillion rupiah (US$105 million) in total transaction value this year. The company also said that it is able to offer its service at a cost that is up to 10x cheaper than the banks’, with real-time settlement.

Currency converted from rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 14,310.65 rupiah.