Indonesian fintech firm Finantier secures Y Combinator backing

Finantier, a fintech firm based in Indonesia, said it has received an undisclosed amount of funding from US startup accelerator Y Combinator.

Finantier CEO Diego Rojas (left) and chief product officer Keng Low / Photo credit: Finantier

The company will join Y Combinator’s winter 2021 funding cycle, which will begin in January. Finantier plans on expanding into emerging markets beyond Southeast Asia through its partnership with the accelerator, according to a statement.

The startup allows businesses to build and deliver financial services to consumers by providing accounts aggregation, income and identity verification, and recurring repayments and subscription services. Finantier also applies machine learning to raw data and provides insights from multiple sources.

“Fintech lenders are frequently unable to extend loans to consumers and businesses. This is due to incomplete information, or the inability of fintechs to obtain the full financial picture of a borrower to de-risk their operations and reduce costs,” said Edwin Kusuma, chief operations officer of Finantier.

Co-founders Kusuma, Diego Rojas, and Keng Low have worked with several startups before establishing the company. Rojas has developed fintech products for companies like LendingClub in the US and Dianrong in China. Low was previously the entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm East Ventures, while Kusuma is a former Google employee.

Fintech is booming in Indonesia. The industry is expected to reach a value of at least US$130 billion by 2025, fueled largely by ride-hailing, digital payments, and ecommerce, according to research by Oxford Business Group.

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Finantier recently raised a pre-seed round from several prominent investors, including East Ventures, AC Ventures, Genesia Ventures and Two Culture Capital. The startup says it has onboarded over 20 clients as part of its beta program since the fundraise.