Akulaku, an Indonesian online lender backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, has pulled in US$100 million from one of Thailand’s biggest lenders to expand its business in Southeast Asia.
The capital raise from Siam Commercial Bank Plc follows a $125 million funding in 2021 co-led by Hong Kong multi-asset investment firm Silverhorn Group, Akulaku said in a statement on Tuesday. It will allow the Jakarta-based company to “further expand the geographic reach” of its offerings across Southeast Asia, Chief Executive Officer William Li said in the statement.
Southeast Asia, a region with about 650 million people, has seen a rush of fundraisings and startup deals as companies move to expand aggressively and win over consumers in one of the world’s fastest growing digital markets. The region’s internet economy is set to double to $363 billion by 2025, research from Google, Temasek and Bain & Co shows.
Akulaku, as part of its expansion efforts, is weighing a US listing via a merger with a blank-check company that could value the combined entity at about $2 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.
The fintech firm is also set to participate in a planned rights issue by Bank Neo Commerce in the second quarter.