Lippo Group makes strategic investment in Singapore payments startup MoolahGo

Lippo Group, a multinational conglomerate based out of Indonesia, has made a strategic investment in Singapore fintech startup MoolahGo for an undisclosed sum as part of its pre-series A raise.

Photo credit: themorningglory / 123RF Stock Photo

Prior to this financing round, MoolahGo announced in March last year that it had received seed funding from Eric Barbier, the founder and former CEO of payments firm Thunes (previously known as TransferTo).

Established in 2018, MoolahGo operates an online financial service marketplace that connects consumers, businesses, and providers directly, removing the need for traditional intermediaries. After starting out in the business-to-consumer and customer-to-customer markets, the multicurrency payments firm has since expanded to offer services to enterprise clients.

Effective from January this year, the startup is also considered as a major payment institution licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the new Payment Services Act.

MoolahGo said it plans to use the fresh funds to bring the other payment services it has been developing to market, including mobile payments, and looks to deploy part of the new capital to open up new markets in the region.

With the investment, the Lippo Group has broadened its portfolio of fintech services. The Indonesian services giant also established digital payments firm Ovo in 2016 and made it into one of the country’s local unicorns.

In late 2019, Lippo founder Mochtar Riady confirmed that his group had sold over 70% of its stake in Ovo and is keeping the rest, citing the company’s spending as the reason for the divestment. The Jakarta Post reported at the time that Lippo was pouring US$50 million a month into the e-wallet startup.