Singapore’s Kredivo Holdings first to raise $270M since U.S. bank’s fall

Kredivo Holdings, a fintech company based in Singapore, has reportedly overcome a downturn in the economy that has rendered it hard for several start-ups to acquire additional funds by raising nearly US$270 million in equity funding.

The company, which runs the fintech service Kredivo as well as Krom Bank Indonesia, announced on Thursday that it has reached a funding agreement with Mizuho Financial Group without providing a figure. In the Series D round, the additional investors included Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, as well as Naver.

When Silicon Valley Bank's failure stunned the start-up community earlier this month, Kredivo's funding round was the largest to have been disclosed in Asia.

Apparently, the fundraising demonstrates that some companies are still able to secure funding despite the venture sector's struggles with higher interest rates, soaring inflation, as well as a tech slowdown. Investors, who were once eager to write checks, are becoming pickier and offering fewer compelling terms.

After its proposed merger with a business that writes blank checks, reportedly failed, Kredivo, formerly called as FinAccel, sought capital at a pre-money valuation of US$1.5 billion the year before. It had previously been valued at US$2 billion.

According to Abhijay Sethia, head of strategy at Kredivo, the firm, whose services involve buy-now-pay-later financing, would utilize the cash to extend to Indonesia's fiercely competitive digital banking market and strengthen its foothold in offline stores.

The country's fintech businesses are actively growing their portfolio of financial service offerings in Indonesia, a nation with a population of 273 million where many have restricted access to credit cards and bank accounts.

Kredivo has been providing consumer payments and loans for seven years, allowing it an advantage over rivals in sectors such as ride-hailing, e-commerce, and gaming, according to Sethia.

In order to establish itself in the fintech market, Singapore's Sea Limited purchased Bank BKE in 2021 from Kredivo's rival, Ant Group-backed Akulaku, which has a share in Bank Neo Commerce in Jakarta.

Source credit: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/singapore-fintech-wins-asia-s-largest-fundraise-since-us-bank-s-collapse