Indonesia-based online stock trading platform Ajaib announced that it has become the country’s seventh unicorn and the first investment FinTech Unicorn in Southeast Asia.
“Ajaib humbly announces that we are now Indonesia’s 7th Unicorn Startup and the first investment FinTech Unicorn in Southeast Asia. Merely 2.5 years after Ajaib first launched, we managed to secure the Unicorn title, making us the youngest Unicorn Startup in Southeast Asia,” Ajaib said in a post on its LinkedIn page.
“We would like to dedicate this achievement to more than 1 million investors who gave their relentless support to our magical journey up to this point,” the company added. “This is another bold step we make to increase the growth and advancement of technology for the Indonesian capital market. We still have a long journey ahead of us to increase financial inclusion in Indonesia.”
The Jakarta-based startup has reached a valuation of $1 billion after raising $153 million in a financing round led by DST Global, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Joining the Series B round include existing investors Ribbit Capital, IVP, and ICONIQ Capital along with Insignia Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, SoftBank Ventures, and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures. Ribbit Capital, IVP, and ICONIQ Capital also backed Robinhood, a US-based commission-free mobile trading app.
“The Bukalapak IPO showed tremendous interest from millennials and Gen Z,” Ajaib’s Founder and chief executive officer Anderson Sumarli was quoted as saying. “Our vision is to bring a new generation of investors to modern financial services so they can benefit from capital markets and the growth of the nation.”
Ajaib plans to use the funds to recruit 100 engineers as well as product and data staff over the next six months, adding to its workforce of 200. The company also plans to improve its app and offer credit facilities for margin trading for some investors, Sumarli said.
Earlier in March this year, Ajaib has added $65 million to its Series A, bringing the round’s total to $90 million. The extension was led by Ribbit Capital.
In January this year, the company announced it has raised a $25 million Series A led by Horizons Ventures and Alpha JWC.
Ajaib is said to have benefited from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where home-bound investors turned to online trading. The company announced on Sunday that it has reached 1.03 million retail investors.
Building a fintech empire, Indonesia’s Ajaib adds stock-trading