Tan Hooi Ling, Co-Founder, Grab.  Photo credit: RISEConf, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Ride-hailing company Grab has led a $100 million Series B round for LinkAja, an Indonesian fintech company. The funding for LinkAja comes just a year after the company was formed by a consortium of state-owned enterprises to provide digital banking services primarily to the middle-class market. LinkAja claims to already have over 58 million registered users across Indonesia.

Rumors of Grab’s interest in LinkAja began swirling around in July this year. The fintech company has also been reported to of interest to GoJek, one of Grab’s main rivals.

Grab’s investment in LinkAja strengthens its network in Indonesia’s payments market and in Southeast Asia at large. Before now, the Singapore-based ride-hailing company had invested in another Indonesian payments company, Ovo. Grab’s investments fall under a commitment that the company made last year to invest $2 billion in Indonesia, which is one of its biggest markets. 

That Grab is committed heavily to Indonesia isn’t surprising, given that the country is one of the fastest-growing internet markets globally. Indonesia is leading a wave of digital growth in the region of Southeast Asia, whose internet economy is projected to top $100 billion this year and further triple to $300 billion by 2025. 

Along with Grab, other investors who participated in LinkAja’s new fundraise include BRI Ventura Investama and Mandiri Capital Indonesia.

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