Helping the Digital Transformation of Indonesian Companies, Mekari Raises Funding

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Mekari announced new funding of IDR 720 billion (USD 50 million), led by Money Forward Inc, which is the largest SaaS provider of financial planning and accounting applications from Japan.

This funding was also followed by the participation of previous investors. As a leading provider of SaaS solutions, Mekari helps business owners of all sizes to digitize and automate operational processes.

Mekari provides efficient and accessible business technology solutions, such as tools for managing Human Resources (HR) and payroll, billing, and accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), to taxation.

Currently, Mekari has more than 35,000 clients and more than 800,000 active users with the majority of users being SMEs. Several brands under the auspices of Mekari are Talenta, Jurnal, Qontak, Klikpajak, and Flex.

Mekari’s CEO, Suwandi Soh said that Mekari will allocate funds this time to expand into financial technology services (fintech) in order to support the digital transformation process of Mekari’s clients, especially at the MSME scale.

In addition, of course, Mekari will increase the capacity and capability of Human Resources (HR), especially the product and engineering teams, who will be at the forefront of designing and manufacturing innovative solutions for its users.

Indonesian Market Potential

President and CEO of Money Forward Inc. Yosuke Tsuji said that his party saw the huge potential of the Indonesian market, seen from the increasing number of businesses that were increasingly fluent in using technology.

“The positive experience we have had from the cooperative relationship with Mekari over the past few years has convinced us that Mekari can optimize this potential and drive digitalization growth in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.”

He also continued, “We believe Mekari can become an important platform in terms of empowering businesses and professionals in Indonesia.”

The SaaS business sector is growing rapidly in Indonesia in recent years. According to research from the Boston Consulting Group, the market value of SaaS in is expected to increase by 25 percent CAGR and reach USD800 million by 2023.

In line with this development, Mekari has also recorded a growth of 11 times over the last 4 years. Several companies that have invested in Mekari in the previous round are East Ventures, Beenext, Mandiri Capital, Alto Partners, and Prasetia.

Success in Building Decacorn Startup, This Former Teacher Has IDR 32 Trillion in Assets

An online tutoring startup company from India, Byju has achieved decacorn status after receiving funding led by venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital.

The builder, Byju Raveendran is now listed as a billionaire worth IDR 32.4 trillion. An investment of USD 100 million makes the Bangalore company with a valuation of USD 10.5 billion the second largest startup in India, after payment firm Paytm which is worth USD 16 billion.

Founded by a 39-year-old former math teacher, Byju Raveendran, Byju has now reached 57 million students in 1,700 cities, mostly in India. Raveendran himself entered the Forbes World’s Billionaires list this year with a net worth of USD 1.8 billion (IDR 25.3 trillion).

The billionaire’s net worth also jumped to $2.3 billion (Rp 32.4 trillion) when Raveendran had not sold any shares in the fundraising session.

“Backed by millions of students, Byju has emerged as a leader in the field of educational technology. We are excited to support a visionary like Byju and his team in their quest to continue to innovate and shape the future of education,” said Mary Meeker as quoted by Forbes, Friday (3/3) 7/2020).

The billionaire said the partnership with Mary Meeker is a testament to Byju’s role in helping students learn better through its digital platform.

Prior to the partnership, Byju was the most-funded online tutoring company in the world. The company managed to raise almost USD 1.5 billion in cumulative funds from 15 rounds of fundraising.