The Indonesian fintech company Ovo has officially confirmed its unicorn status, following months of speculation and a recent statement from Rudiantara, Indonesia’s minister of informatics and communications.
“This week, Pak Rudiantara gave us the greatest honor. He talked about Ovo joining the stable of unicorns in Indonesia,” said Ovo CEO Jason Thompson during a keynote at the Tech in Asia Conference in Jakarta. “And I can tell you everybody at Ovo is so humbled by that accolade.”
The Ovo app / Photo credit: Ovo
This would bring Indonesia’s unicorn count to five, with ecommerce company Bukalapak being the last to join the club. While Thompson didn’t elaborate on the company’s exact valuation, CB Insights reported it to be US$2.9 billion.
Ovo started out as a loyalty app for shopping malls owned by the Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group before attaining major growth as an e-wallet.
According to Bank Indonesia data, Ovo is currently Indonesia’s top digital payment system based on transaction values. The company processed 56.1 trillion rupiah (about US$4 billion) worth of transactions for the first half of 2019.
Thompson has credited partnerships with giants Grab and Tokopedia as an inflection point in Ovo’s growth. The company has also expanded into financial services as part of its larger vision of developing financial inclusion in the country.
This story is developing. Check back later for updates.
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