Indonesia-based mobile wallet operator Payfazz received $53m yesterday in a series B round backed by BRI Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of financial services firm Bank Rakyat Indonesia, DealStreetAsia reported.
Venture capital firm B Capital and VC fund Insignia Ventures Partners co-led the round, which included Tiger Global Management, Y Combinator, Quiet Capital and Ace & Company.
Payfazz has developed a cloud-based platform that enables users to deposit cash with a network of some 250,000 agents who typically operate from within small stores in rural areas and act as intermediaries with banks.
The service is particularly aimed at unbanked and underbanked consumers who struggle to access banking services due to a lack of branches in remote towns.
Customers can use their Payfazz balance to purchase prepaid phone credit or pay utility bills. The company has also begun offering loans and processing payments for brick-and-mortar retailers.
The series B funds have been allocated to bolstering the company’s offering across Indonesia’s rural areas and exploring an expansion across Southeast Asia.
Hendra Kwik, co-founder and chief executive of Payfazz, said: “We see that fintech apps accessible through a smartphone will revolutionise the financial services industry in the region.
“We want to take part in this revolution by making bill payments, money transfers, loans, savings accounts and investment services easily accessible through everyone’s smartphone to accelerate financial inclusion across Southeast Asia.”
Payfazz had previously raised $21m in a late 2018 series A round featuring Tiger Global and, according to Tech in Asia, telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures unit, Y Combinator, Insignia Ventures Partners, Vertex Ventures, Ace & Company and Convergence Ventures.
Telkom Indonesia had already participated in a $165,000 seed round for the company in 2017 through its Indigo incubator, investing together with Y Combinator.
