Ajaib lands $270M Series C, Indonesia's biggest tech round since 2022
What's the deal? Ajaib, a Jakarta-based online stock trading platform, has raised $270 million in a Series C round led by Japan's SBI GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The company closed the round at a higher valuation than its previous mark of about $1 billion, though it did not disclose the new figure.
Why it stands out: The round is Indonesia's largest tech fundraising since 2022 and lands among the top few percent of comparable Series C rounds in the country's fintech sector on record.
Why now? Capital has largely dried up across Southeast Asia's largest economy. Indonesian startups raised about $340 million last year, down from $440 million in 2024 and far below the $9.44 billion peak in 2021, according to a report by Kickstart VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and DealStreetAsia.
"In cycles, as we know, there are going to be downs, but there's also going to be ups," chief executive officer Anderson Sumarli said in an interview. "The most important thing in the entrepreneurial journey is to go through resilience in those down days or down years and be able to focus on the mission and customers."
What's the endgame? Ajaib will use the funds to hire in data science, engineering, and product development, expanding its roughly 600-person workforce.
Founded in 2019 by Stanford MBA classmates SumarliDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, 32, and Yada PiyajomkwanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, 33, Ajaib — which means "magical" — caught on during the pandemic as smartphone-savvy young people took up online trading. Modeled on Robinhood and aimed at first-time millennial investors, it hit unicorn status in two and a half years, becoming Indonesia's youngest startup worth $1 billion or more.
Winston Lays joined as co-founder and chief technology officer in 2020. Early backers included SoftBank GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Insignia VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Alpha JWCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Y Combinator. Ajaib has now raised more than $500 million in total.
The signal: A single large check does not reverse a downturn, but Ajaib's round breaks a run of quiet quarters in the region's venture ecosystem — a sign that investor appetite for Southeast Asian fintech has not vanished.
Read more: Bloomberg
Image credit: Ajaib
