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Jofie Yordan · · 5 min readWhy SBI paid a premium for Ajaib amid a tough market
In August, Indonesia-based Ajaib defied market expectations by closing the country’s largest tech funding round in four years.
The US$270 million raise from Japan’s SBI Holdings was also priced above the investment platform’s last funding round in 2021, when it surpassed the US$1 billion valuation mark.
Photo credit: Ajaib
SBI says it acquired a 20% stake in Ajaib, implying a post-money valuation of about US$1.35 billion. Ajaib declined to comment on this figure or disclose its valuation.
The timing is notable. Startup funding in Indonesia is at its most challenging in years, forcing many to lower valuations for fresh capital.
Jakarta Composite Index has fallen more than 20% year to date amid foreign outflows and a worsening economic outlook. Indonesia’s monthly crypto transaction values continue to fluctuate, too, with July’s value down 28.2% month on month.
While Ajaib is growing fast, it’s not the largest investment platform by stock trading transaction volume.
What warrants the premium in valuation?
VCs interviewed by Tech in Asia say SBI likely made a strategic bet on Ajaib’s long-term potential. This comes as the firm pursues a string of acquisitions in stablecoin and digital-asset businesses across Southeast Asia.
Justifying the valuation
Ajaib started as a stock trading app aimed at younger Indonesian investors. But that business has expanded considerably to include Indonesia and US stocks, mutual funds, crypto, and stablecoins.
The firm’s co-founder and CEO, Anderson Sumarli, tells Tech in Asia that the platform now has more than 7 million accounts, up from 1 million in 2021.
“We’ve grown multiple times over the last several years, and we’ve been profitable for the past few years,” Sumarli says.
SBI’s vision
The next test is expansion
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Ajaib isn’t Indonesia’s largest digital investment platform. But its sizable presence could be valuable for the investor’s push into digital assets.
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