SoftBank-backed investment app Ajaib has just netted $25 million from Li Ka-shing’s venture capital firm. This is an impressive milestone for the company, as Li Ka-shing’s firm invests in very few startups, and has a reputation for making smart investments.
This article will explore why Li Ka-shing’s VC firm decided to invest in Ajaib, and the implications for the company’s future.
Overview of Ajaib
Ajaib is a Indonesia-based online wealth management platform that enables users to research and invest in different asset classes, such as stocks, mutual funds, fixed deposits, savings bonds, gold and insurance products with just a few clicks. Since its launch in 2018 by former Go-Jek executive Junaidi Suryawan, Ajaib has rapidly grown to become one of Indonesia’s most popular fintech platforms. It offers many features to help its users make informed investment decisions.
In June this year, Ajaib announced it had raised US$30 million in series B funding from Horizons Ventures – the venture capital arm of Hong Kong entrepreneur Sir Ka-shing Li. This is the first time Horizons Ventures has invested in an Indonesian company and brings the total amount it invested in Ajaib to US$53 million.
Horizons Ventures’ investment signifies confidence in the long-term potential of Ajaib to become one of Southeast Asia’s leading digital wealth management platforms. The additional capital will accelerate product development and expand into new markets across Southeast Asia including Singapore and Thailand. In addition, Ajaib plans to launch its mobile application for users on both Android devices and Apple’s iOS platform later this year so customers can access their services anytime and anywhere.
Overview of Li Ka-shing’s VC firm
Horizon Ventures is a venture capital firm founded and led by Hong Kong business tycoon Sir Li Ka-shing. Over the past 20 years, the firm has invested in many successful early-stage companies, including Spotify, DeepMind and Waze. With offices in Asia, Europe and the United States, Horizon Ventures has become one of the world’s most respected and successful venture capital firms.
The company is known for its data-driven approach to investing. By leveraging their extensive experience and skill set, they can fully analyze each potential opportunity to ensure that their portfolio companies benefit most from their investments. Horizon Ventures also offers post-investment services such as mentorship and guidance to support portfolio companies when needed.
Horizon Ventures recently made its first foray into Indonesia by investing in Ajaib. This online investment platform offers customers simple access to local and global financial markets with lower minimum investment amounts than traditional investment platforms. This investment underscores Horizons’ commitment to identifying high potential businesses across Southeast Asia as well as its commitment to encouraging financial technology investments in developing countries across the world.
SoftBank-backed investment app Ajaib nets $25m from Li Ka-shing’s VC firm
SoftBank-backed investment app Ajaib has secured a $25 million investment from Li Ka-shing’s venture capital firm, Horizons Ventures. The investment speaks volumes about Ajaib’s platform’s value, highlighting the confidence Horizons Ventures has in the startup.
Let’s look into the reasons for the investment and why Li Ka-shing’s firm is interested in Ajaib.
Ajaib’s growing user base
Ajaib’s strong growth in user base has caught the attention of Li Ka-shing’s venture capital (VC) firm Horizons Ventures. As a result, the startup has reportedly won a disproportionate share of investments in Southeast Asia, raising $38 million in 2020 to further accelerate its growth.
The impressive user base achieved by Ajaib reflects the growing demand for digital financial services across Southeast Asia. With over 2 million users and 13 million transactions, it has quickly established itself as one of the region’s leading digital wealth management platforms.
Through its online platform, Ajaib allows users to invest their funds securely and easily at minimal cost. It provides a range of services such as stock investing, mutual fund investing, foreign exchange trading, currency exchange, and traditional banking products like saving/fixed deposits and provident funds. Its app leverages cloud technology to offer comprehensive features such as a quick overview of user’s invested portfolio performance and portfolio analytics tools for aiding investors in making informed decisions about their investments. In addition, customers can also purchase insurance coverage directly from Ajaib’s app.
Ajaib’s streamlined approach is likely what attracted the attention of Horizons Ventures who are known for investing in early-stage tech startups with potential for major market disruption. Reportedly they are optimistic that Ajiab will continue its domination within the region given its growing customer base – estimated to reach 50 million by 2023 – and strong track record thus far.
Ajaib’s innovative approach to investing
Ajaib is a leading digital wealth management platform in Southeast Asia, offering its customers access to brokers and various mutual funds across the region. Li Ka-shing’s VC firm TH Capital recently announced a huge investment into Ajaib, totaling $60M. This investment comes amidst many other investors backing the innovative fintech startup.
Ajaib has developed an online platform that offers investment advice and assistance on individual investments and provides market overview analysis to inform its customers of diverse financial matters beyond just stocks. The company’s vision is to make investing accessible to everyone regardless of their financial background or experience level – something that resonates with Li Ka-shing’s philosophy of encouraging entrepreneurship and risk-taking. Additionally, it allows users to invest through low cost digital funds, saving people time and providing better returns for their investments.
The ability of Ajaib’s platform to bridge both experienced and inexperienced investors together gives it an edge against its competition in the industry. It helps propel the industry forward with innovative investing solutions. This ability has secured relationships with more than 60 mutual fund companies worldwide, allowing customers access to various international markets at any given time. As such, many believe that this round of funding will help accelerate Ajaib’s further growth in future years while helping them expand into new markets globally and solidify their status in Southeast Asia’s digital finance ecosystem.
Li Ka-shing’s long-term vision for Ajaib
The leading venture firm of Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, Horizons Ventures, has announced its recent investment in Ajaib, a robo-advisory start-up based in Indonesia. Horizons Ventures has been investing in startups since 2012 and is known to be one of the biggest investors in emerging markets.
As an alum of University of California Berkeley, Li Ka-shing has constantly shown interest and immense pride in nurturing entrepreneurs across well-known universities worldwide. Therefore, it is no surprise that his venture firm invests in Ajaib because the platform was founded by two UC Berkeley alums Akhil V. Wabrah and Erastus Radjimin.
On top of that, Li Ka-shing’s long-term vision for Ajaib involves expanding its operations beyond Indonesia as an investment platform and an application focused on digital banking services.
This will enable investors from around Southeast Asia to have greater access to better financial opportunities provided by the world’s second largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP).
As for the plan for Ajaib ahead, it seeks to provide wider product offerings to the region through strategic collaborations with local partners such as banks, insurers and asset managers. Doing so would benefit retail investors greatly through lower fees resulting from unbundling complex products into simple ones with preconfigured risk profiles and automated portfolios that can be tailored according to individual needs.
Impact of the Investment
The investment of Li Ka-shing’s VC firm in Softbank-backed investment app Ajaib has been seen as a boost of confidence in emerging fintech companies. With this $25 million investment, Ajaib is now valued at $200 million and is thus becoming one of the most valuable fintech startups in the region.
This investment will surely have direct and indirect impacts on other industry players. Let’s discuss some of the impacts the investment will have.
Expanded access to capital
The investment will further expand access to capital for Ajaib. This financial technology company helps businesses in the Middle East and South Asia access capital markets more efficiently. The move will enable Ajaib to become an even larger player in the financial technology market, and provide more viable investment options for businesses that lack access to traditional funding sources.
Aside from providing additional funding to Ajaib, Li Ka-shing’s venture capital firm will likely provide valuable business advice and guidance from seasoned professionals. This can prove invaluable for a startup such as Ajaib attempting to disrupt a sector like finance. The investment also serves as a vote of confidence in the potential of Ajaib and ability to bring greater efficiency and cost effectiveness to an untapped market.
Finally, Li Ka-shing’s fund may benefit through additional investments, as it increases its stake in startups due to the potential upside associated with being among the first investors into an emerging company. In addition, by backing Ajaib, Li Ka-shing’s fund may gain exposure to other regional firms with growth potential.
Increased funding for Ajaib
Ajaib, an Indonesian startup that provides a digital wealth management technology platform, recently secured an investment from Li Ka-shing’s venture capital firm, Horizons Ventures. This is the first time Horizons has invested in an Indonesia-based tech company.
The London-headquartered VC firm leads a $37 million funding round for Ajaib and will receive equity. The injection of new funds into the business will help Ajaib to grow its operations.
Access to more capital will enable Ajaib to focus on product development and create technologically advanced products for customers. Additionally, the company aims to expand its customer base by investing in customer experience and outreach activities across Indonesia. The added resources could also make it easier for the company to make strategic hires of professionals with expertise in hyper growth markets like Southeast Asia.
Overall, this new investment from Horizons Ventures will bring greater financial resources and strategic insights which could open up fresh opportunities for Ajaib as they continue to evolve their digital financial services offerings across Southeast Asia.
Potential for further investment
The decision to invest in Ajaib demonstrates Li Ka-shing’s VC firm belief that the company has potential for further investment. By investing in Ajaib, Li Ka-shing’s firm gains a unique opportunity to create new open banking propositions and grow its regional customers base by leveraging the technology platform. On top of this, Ajaib’s campaign management technology provides the VC firm with an innovative tool to track how campaigns progress in real time.
Moreover, Li Ka-shing’s VC firm will be able to leverage Ajaib’s existing relationships with dozens of financial services providers from across Southeast Asia. This will help them better understand market dynamics and assess market trends earlier. Furthermore, since the founding team behind Ajaib previously worked with major VC firms, they have valuable industry experience and know-how that the investor can leverage and utilize for their operations.
Overall, this investment benefits both parties by opening doors for mutually beneficial business relationships between them and providing access to opportunities in areas such as analytics technology and smart data solutions through potential strategic partnerships in SEA countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. In addition, this partnership could simplify collaboration between Li Ka-shing’s VC firm and Ajaib, leading to increased revenues and reduced operational costs over time while achieving long-term business growth objectives.
Conclusion
The SoftBank-backed investment app Ajaib recently saw a huge investment from Li Ka-shing’s VC firm for $25 million. This investment highlights the confidence and trust in the app and its future potential.
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