Singapore-based money remittance platform Instarem has raised $20m in the first close of a series C round co-led by telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia and financial services group Kasikorn Bank.
MDI Ventures and Beacon Venture Capital, the respective venturing units of Telkom Indonesia and Kasikorn, were joined by e-commerce holding group Rocket Internet, financial services conglomerate SBI, venture capital firm GSR Ventures and Vertex Ventures, the VC arm of Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek.
The company is targeting $45m for the series C round which is expected to close by January 2019, two years ahead of a planned IPO.
Founded in 2014, Instarem provides a cross-border money transfer service aimed at private and enterprise customers. It plans to use the new funding to enter Japan and Indonesia, and launch a new consumer and enterprise product next year.
In March 2016, Instarem raised $5m in a series A round led by Vertex Ventures, with participation from Fullerton Financial Holdings, another subsidiary of Temasek, as well as Global Founders Capital (GFC).
The company received $13m in a series B round in July 2017, which was led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings and Global Founders Capital.
Nicko Widjaja, CEO of MDI Ventures, said: ”By providing the lowest exchange rates among competing services, Instarem provides significant value to both local and foreign migrant workers looking to transfer funds to their home countries and to local businesses looking to conduct trade with international parties with the hope that they can boost and stimulate international trade exports.”