InstaReM announces first close of Series C round at over US$20mil

• Series C round to be completed in January 2019 in advance of expected IPO in 2021
• Funds will support the launch of a new consumer and enterprise product in 2019

INSTAREM, a Southeast Asian digital cross-border payments company, has announced a Series C funding round.

The company's growth has secured a first close of more than US$20 million (RM83.79 million) led by new investors MDI Ventures (the VC arm of Indonesia's Telkom), and Beacon Venture Capital (the VC arm of Thailand's Kasikornbank) and supported by existing investors, Vertex Ventures, GSR Ventures, Rocket Internet and SBI-FMO Fund.

InstaReM co-founder and chief executive officer Prajit Nanu, said, "The promise we've made to our customers, from day one, is that we'll always be transparent, and we'll forever give them the best value we can to help them #DoMore with their money. No matter where they are in the world, and no matter if they're a business or an individual sending money overseas, it's been our mission to be their champion.

“That's why we were one of the first Asian remittance providers to move outside of Asia, and that's another reason why we've been able to secure this historic round of funding. In less than four years, we have become the payment backbone for emerging markets for banks and other global financial institutions."

The Series C round of US$45 million, which takes the digital remittance fintech's overall funding to over US$63 million, is expected to close by January 2019, in advance of its expected IPO in 2021.

This Series C round, will accelerate growth in InstaReM's existing markets and enable it to enter new markets in Japan and Indonesia, where it is expected to receive licenses by the end of this year.

This round will also enable InstaReM to launch a new consumer and enterprise product in 2019 for which the company has aggressive plans.

InstaReM's next-generation payments platform leverages on the latest technology to help its individual and enterprise customers send money to their destinations quicker and at a lower cost than its competitors.

With regulatory licenses and approvals in Singapore, Australia, India, Europe, United States, Hong Kong, Canada and Malaysia, and its global banking partnerships, InstaReM is able to reach to over 3.21 billion consumer and business customers across 55+ countries worldwide. InstaReM already powers payments for three of the top ten Southeast Asian Banks.

"We see that InstaReM has strong capability to enable cross-border payment and remittance between Indonesia and its international partners. By providing the lowest exchange rates among competing services, InstaReM provides significant value to both local and foreign migrant workers looking to transfer funds to their home countries and to local businesses looking to conduct trade with international parties with the hope that they can boost/stimulate international trade exports.

“With Indonesia's fintech sector experiencing peak levels of growth, we believe that it is the ideal time for fintech companies, such as InstaReM, to focus on expansion throughout the country. As part of our thesis at MDI Ventures, we are keen to support InstaReM with their expansion in Indonesia and Asean through strategic partnership with various Telkom business units around the region," explained MDI Ventures chief executive officer Nicko Widjaja.

Beacon Venture Capital  managing director Thanapong Na Ranong, added, "We have been following InstaReM for some time, and are impressed with the way the company has been expanding globally, and scaling up its operations.

“As Kasikornbank becomes the digital bank of choice for customers, we have a strong commitment to working closely with category leaders in each sector and constantly improving our customer experience."

InstaReM is a member of RippleNet, Ripple's global network of banks and other financial institutions, and has recently bagged the Blockchain Innovator Award by Ripple, for its innovations in the payments space.