Tencent, Indonesian fintech platform blocks Flip with $ 55M Series B extension – TechCrunch

Flip, an Indonesia-based consumer payment platform, has completed a $ 55 million Series B expansion round led by Tencent with the participation of Block (formerly known as Square) and existing supporters Insight Partners.

In addition, there are a number of other investors, including Checkout.com founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz; DoorDash chairman and board member of Coinbase and Pinterest Gokul Rajaram and former Venmo COO Michael Vaughan participated in the expansion.

The latest financing, which follows the first Series B reduction of $ 48 million in December last year, brings Flips’ total acquisition to $ 120 million since its inception in 2019. The company did not disclose its valuation. Asked if it was flat or an up-round, the company’s COO declined to comment.

Flip has helped over 10 million people in Indonesia in May this year, up from more than 7 million users in December 2021, access financial transactions, including online interbank transfers to more than 100 domestic banks, refilling e-wallets and international money transfers, which allow users to send money from Indonesia to more than 45 countries and payment transfer products for businesses, Flip COO Gita Prihanto told TechCrunch. Hundreds of companies use Flip’s payroll and remittance services for employee salaries, customer refunds, invoice / supplier payments and international transfers. Flip processes more than $ 12 billion in transactions annually, Prihanto noted.

Flip plans to use the capital to increase the workforce with a focus on engineering and product teams. The team has increased by 30% to more than 400 employees by June 2022 from a team of 300 people in December 2021, Prihanto said. The start-up will also invest in new products and technology development to provide a higher quality of services and drive the business to expand.

The University of Indonesia’s alumni Rafi Putra Arriyan (CEO), Luqman Sungkar (CTO) and Ginanjar Ibnu Solikhin co-founded Flip in 2015 to solve problems in Indonesia’s financial transaction system, such as money getting stuck during transfers and incurring a transfer fee to different banks and long transfer processes.

“The growth potential of the Indonesian digital economy is enormous with its massive population and favorable demographics,” Flip co-founder and CEO Rafi Putra Arriyan said in a statement. “We are laser-focused on helping millions of Indonesians, both individuals and businesses, perform various money transactions at a low cost through our platform.”

Gita Prihanto, operations manager at Flip (left); Ginanjar Ibnu Solikhin, co-founder of Flip (top center); Luqman Sungkar, co-founder and chief technology officer of Flip (right); and Rafi Putra Arriyan, co-founder and CEO of Flip (lower middle). Photo credit: Vend

“We are humbled to receive the trust and continuous support of our investors,” Prihanto said in his prepared statement. “We are also pleased to welcome Tencent and Block, who share the same purpose of making fintech available to everyone in Indonesia.”

In March, TechCrunch reported that Block also invested in Kyash, a Tokyo-based fintech startup that appeared to be the company’s first investment in Asia.