Matchmaking app Paktor secures funding from Indonesia’s MNC

Paktor, Southeast Asia’s version of Tinder, today announced an undisclosed amount of funding from one of Indonesia’s biggest conglomerates, MNC Media.

The Singapore-based matchmaking app says the funding is part of a larger investment round it’s about to close.

The company will use the money it just raised to double down on Indonesia, where it has recorded two million registered users in the last 10 months. That’s a chunk of the over 7 million users the company has amassed in Southeast Asia and Taiwan since its launch in 2013.

Co-founder and CEO Joseph Phua says Paktor has grown its revenue “over 100 times” last year from 2014. “Paktor’s focus on monetization paid off handsomely […] and we expect to achieve group revenue in the eight-digit US dollars in 2016.”

He says the app was just behind Line as the top grossing in Taiwan and he believes that with MNC’s support, “we can do the same in Indonesia.”

Paktor works very similar to Tinder: users swipe right to like and left to pass, and start a conversation when they match. The company claims to make 15 million matches per month.

Though the app is free for download, users may buy more features in-app, including the ability to send virtual gifts to other users. That’s how it makes money.

“We’ve followed Paktor’s progress closely since they launched in Indonesia in 2015,” says MNC director David Fernando Audy. “We are impressed by the growth they’ve experienced in such a short period of time.”

Joseph says Paktor plans to tap into MNC’s media assets, but he didn’t disclose the specifics. MNC is the largest free-to-air operator in Indonesia, with interests in broadcast, print, radio, online media, and ecommerce.

Prior to this round, Paktor had raised US$12 million in funding.