Indonesia-based consumer finance platform Akulaku has entered talks to raise $100m in series D funding from investors including Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce group Alibaba, Kr Asia reported yesterday.
The discussions are at an advanced stage, and Ant Financial would take part in the round as a strategic investor, with Akulaku deepening its ties to Alibaba’s e-commerce assets across the region. The corporate has been pursuing expansion efforts across Southeast Asia of late.
Founded in 2014, Akulaku initially launched a virtual credit card but has since expanded to operate an e-commerce platform that enables consumers to purchase items in instalments. It also offers financial services such as loans for small businesses. In addition to Indonesia, it is currently active in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Kr Asia reported two months ago that Akulaku had raised a total of $220m, but in its latest report specified that the company would only reach that figure if the series D round closes.
Akulaku raised $70m in a November 2018 series C round led by financial data software provider FinUp Financial Technology, with participation from Sequoia India, BlueSky Venture Capital and Qiming Venture Capital.
Qiming had led Akulaku’s $30m series B round in July 2017, which featured Legend Capital, the VC firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as Shunwei Capital, IDG Capital, Arbor Ventures, DCM Ventures, Arbor Venture Fund and Wecapital.
Financial services and investment group Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures vehicle contributed to a $15m round for Akulaku in February 2017 that also featured Arbor Ventures and Micro Cloud Ventures.
