Indonesia’s Fundtastic lands $7.7m in series A round

Indonesia-based online investment platform Fundtastic announced it has raised US$7.7 million in a series A funding round led by Ascend Capital Group.

Other investors, including tech investment holding firm Indivara Group, also chipped in, according to a statement.

Photo credit: Fundtastic

With the new funds, Fundtastic CEO and co-founder Harry Hartono said the firm will expand its market share and develop its products.

The latest investment comes as the fintech startup experienced an increase in both its users and the amount of its managed funds last year. The company claims it has around 200 billion rupiah (US$14.2 million) in total managed funds and 110,000 registered users after experiencing a 5x increase in 2020 compared to a year before.

Fundtastic said it’s seeing a surge in digital investments recently, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic highlighting the importance of financial investments.

According to the Indonesia Stock Exchange, in November 2020, the number of capital market investors reached 3.53 million, of which around 57.5% were mutual funds and bonds investors.

The growth is driven by the increased penetration of cellular telephones and the growing amount of internet users in Indonesia, said Fundtastic.

In the archipelago, the number of mobile users was expected to reach 70% of the country’s total population in 2020 and to continue to increase to up to 89% in 2025, according to Statista. Meanwhile, 196.7 million Indonesians have become internet users by Q2 2020, according to data from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association.

Launched in 2019, Fundtastic provides its users with access to investment products including mutual funds, gold, and government securities, among others.

It acquired mutual funds and securities portal Invisee in a US$6.5 million deal in August last year to expand its products.