Accounting app BukuWarung bags pre-series A funding in Quona-led round

BukuWarung, an accounting and credit management app for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has secured an undisclosed amount of funding in a pre-series A round led by Quona Capital, pushing its total funding to the eight-digit territory.

BukuWarung founders Chinmay Chauhan (left) and Abhinay Peddisetty / Photo credit: BukuWarung

Existing backers East Ventures, AC Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Indonesian tobacco mogul Michael Sampoerna also participated in the round. Founders of Snapdeal, who are also investors in digital ledger app Khatabook, also took part.

BukuWarung offers a mobile app that helps small merchants keep track of all transactions, including credit, expenses, and sales. The startup claims that merchants receive repayments 3x faster and see increased cash flow due to the app’s automatic payment reminders.

“Microbusinesses have always been underserved in Indonesia and have very little access to quality financial services,” BukuWarung co-founder Abhinay Peddisetty observed.

The company said that in Indonesia, MSMEs contribute over 60% of the country’s US$1 trillion GDP, yet most of them still rely on pen-and-paper accounting methods for their day-to-day operations.

What are its future plans? BukuWarung said it will use the new funds to make new hires for its tech team, go deeper into its product roadmap, grow its merchant base, and meet early monetization goals in the third quarter of the year.

More specifically, the startup looks to launch payments and microlending solutions to further bolster its offerings as well as provide working capital to its partner merchants who need to bounce back from the Covid-19 crisis, BukuWarung co-founder Chinmay Chauhan told Tech in Asia.

In addition, to better achieve its goal of building digital infrastructure for 60 million MSMEs in Indonesia, Peddisetty said BukuWarung will leverage Quona Capital’s deep experience around financial inclusion in emerging markets. Besides BukuWarung, the fintech investor has also backed other microbusinesses-focused outfits such as IndiaMart, Neon in Brazil, and Yoco in Africa.

How much traction has it gotten? Since the company’s last funding round in April, it said it was able to grow its merchant base tenfold. Chauhan said that BukuWarung has served over 600,000 merchants, with around 200,000 monthly active users to date. It aims to serve 1 million small business owners in the next two months.

BukuWarung said it was also able to grow its team across growth, product, tech, data, and partnership roles.

In addition, the startup was selected to take part in Y Combinator’s class of YC S20, which is being conducted remotely due to the pandemic.

What is the company’s funding history?

• Seed (2020): An undisclosed amount from Golden Gate Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, AC Ventures, Michael Sampoerna, and lead investor East Ventures