 |
JAKARTA, Indonesia and SINGAPORE, June 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jakarta-based wagely, a financial wellness platform that enables earned wage access, announced that it has raised US$5.6 million in a strategic round of investment. The round is led by Integra Partners (formerly known as Dymon Asia Ventures) with participation from ADB Ventures (the Asian Development Bank's venture arm), PT Triputra Investindo Arya (one of Indonesia's largest privately held groups), Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, 1982 Ventures, Willy Suwandi Dharma (former President Director of PT Asuransi Adira Dinamika), and others.
Founded by Tobias Fischer (CEO) and Sasanadi Ruka (CTO), former Grab and Tokopedia executives, the investment will be used to accelerate the adoption of wagely's financial wellness platform. "More than 100 million Indonesian lower- and middle-income workers are living paycheck to paycheck and struggle with unexpected financial expenses between paychecks - which in turn impacts businesses with higher turnover, lower productivity, and more employee loans," says Tobias Fischer, CEO, wagely. "Our workplaces are changing rapidly, especially since COVID-19 struck. Now the way people are getting paid is changing too, and at scale. wagely turns paychecks into progress providing financial flexibility for millions of underserved lower- and middle-income workers in Indonesia and beyond."
The raise caps off an impressive first year for wagely, which saw its partner network grow to more than 50 large enterprises that have already adopted the startup's financial wellness solution including PT Bentoel Internasional Investama Tbk (British American Tobacco), PT Supra Boga Lestari Tbk (Ranch Market), PT Mustika Ratu Tbk, PT Kencana Energi Lestari Tbk, and others. "wagely offers our employees financial stability in times of uncertainty. It is incredibly important and a crucial step for the long-term resilience of our business. With no changes to our payroll process, wagely's solution has proven to increase our business savings and helped our employees to avoid predatory loans while providing savings and budgeting tools that increase their financial literacy," says Wilson Maknawi, President Director, PT Kencana Energi Lestari, Tbk.
As concerns over COVID-19 continue to grow, employers around the world, including Walmart, Pizza Hut and Visa, are turning to earned wage access solutions to reduce turnover, enhance productivity, and increase business savings. Investors are taking note. Dailypay, a leading US-based earned wage access provider, just recently raised US$500 million and reached unicorn status. Other earned wage access providers are backed by Softbank (Payactiv, US), Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates (Wagestream, UK; Minu, MEX), and Peter Thiel (Even, US). Payactiv already counts more than 2 million users and has processed more than US$5 billion in earned wage access, highlighting the tremendous potential of the space.
Commenting on the investment Christiaan Kaptein, Partner, Integra Partners, says, "We are proud to partner with Tobias, Didi, and the team at wagely in their mission to bring financial wellbeing to employees in Indonesia and across the region. The strategic participation of several Indonesian investment groups as well as the Asian Development Bank underscores wagely's leadership role in the space and the Indonesian market." Daniel Hersson, Senior Fund Manager, ADB Ventures adds, "Our investment affirms our conviction that wagely has what it takes to mainstream financial inclusion and literacy in Indonesia. wagely offers workers what they did not have before: a fair and accessible financial tool to help them manage life's inevitable contingencies and emergencies, including those caused by climate change."
wagely is onboarding new partners every day across Indonesia. Its customers include British American Tobacco, Ranch Market, Mustika Ratu, Kencana Energy, and others. Interested companies can learn more and reach out here.
