Indonesian savings app Pluang bags new funding amid investment boom in the country

The wealth tech startup said on Monday that it has raised USD 20 million in a pre-Series B round that was led by Openspace Ventures. Existing investors, including Go-Ventures, also participated. Co-founder and CEO Claudia Kolonas said in a statement that Pluang plans to expand its investment options in 2021, focusing on new financial products for simple and convenient access to a wider variety of asset classes.

One of the new products will be Indonesian government bonds that have been issued to fund the recovery of the country’s economy after the pandemic. Pluang also plans to add various automated features to help users set up a savings routine.

The new funding comes after a USD 3 million Go-Ventures-led Series A round in September 2019, which helped Pluang to lift its user base to over 1 million. Founded by Kolonas and Richard Chua in August 2018, the company initially offered digital gold products and later added US equity indices, as well as the cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether. Customers can start saving with just USD 0.50.

Pluang already partners with companies such as Gojek, e-wallet Dana, as well as e-commerce Bukalapak, allowing their users to make in-app investments, and intends to add further collaborations. In the gold investment sector, the firm is facing other startups like Treasury, IndoGold, Masduit, and e-commerce giant Tokopedia which provides a similar service on its platform.

Indonesia is currently seeing a spike in investment interest among its young population. Like Pluang, apps such as stock and mutual fund platform Ajaib and robo-advisor Bibit also saw a jump in their user numbers, that were exceeding 1 million in 2020. Most of them are aged between 27 and 35.

Peter Abdullah Redjalam, director at the Center of Reform on Economics, told KrASIA in an interview that the apps play a large role in opening access to young investors with modest amounts of capital. They are increasing the country’s financial inclusion through investment which has traditionally been considered an activity for the rich and privileged.