Indonesia's Pluang raises US$20 million in pre-series B round

• Openspace Ventures, Go-Ventures amongst the investors
• Funds used to introduce new product bringing greater diversity, inclusion to investors

PLUANG, a wealthtech start-up based in Indonesia, has raised US$20 million in a pre-Series B round led by its existing investor, Openspace Ventures, together with other existing investors including Go-Ventures, which is also participating in the round.

The company’s US$3 million Series A funding, which closed in March 2019, helped the company acquire over 1 million users, with the company experiencing a further month-on-month growth, Pluang said in a statement.

“We plan to expand our product offerings in 2021, focusing on new financial products to give our users simple and convenient access to a wider variety of asset classes” said Claudia Kolonas, founder of Pluang.

“Previously, these assets classes were only available to the wealthy in Indonesia, but we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to grow their savings, and our new products will reflect this.”

Pluang said it will use the new funding to continue to develop unique and proprietary financial products aimed at helping its users save and invest in different categories. Currently, Pluang offers gold, US equity indices and cryptocurrencies for investment.

With the fresh capital, Pluang plans to launch several new asset classes and provide users with proprietary financial products, it said.

One new focus will be to introduce a novel way to utilise government bonds as a savings product, it added.

The company said is committed to supporting the Indonesian government, which is raising a record amount of funding to help fund its budget deficit during the pandemic.

Addtionally, Pluang will implement various automated features, allowing users to make saving a routine habit, it said. The company has also been selected to provide mini-apps within Gojek, Dana and Bukalapak.

With the fresh capital, Pluang will expand its product offering with existing ecosystem partners and onboard several new partners over time, the company said.

“Pluang has demonstrated tremendous growth over the last 12 months with industry leading unit economics,” said Shane Chesson, Founding Partner, Openspace Ventures.

“We’re excited to continue supporting the team, as they sustainably accelerate their ambitions to help every Indonesian grow their savings.”

“As a nation, Indonesians are just starting to get familiar with savings, investing and growing their wealth,” said Aditya Kamath, Partner, Go- Ventures. “Pluang is making excellent in-roads into educating new users and getting them started on their savings journey.”