PR89987

JAKARTA, Indonesia and SINGAPORE, June 9, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

--wagely enables Indonesian workers to access their earned wages in real-time

and provides a more affordable and sustainable alternative to predatory loans.

--Founded in 2020 by former Grab and Tokopedia executives, Tobias Fischer(CEO)

and Sasanadi Ruka(CTO), wagely will reach over 250,000 Indonesian users in

2021.

--More than 50 large Indonesian enterprises, state-owned enterprises and

multi-nationals, such as PT Bentoel Internasional Investama Tbk (British

American Tobacco), PT Supra Boga Lestari Tbk(Ranch Market), PT Mustika Ratu

Tbk, and PT Kencana Energi Lestari Tbk have partnered with wagely to offer

financial wellness to their employees.

Jakarta-based wagely, a financial wellness platform that enables earned wage

access, announced that it has raised US$5.6 million in a strategic round of

investment. The round is led by Integra Partners(formerly known as Dymon Asia

Ventures) with participation from ADB Ventures(the Asian Development Bank's

venture arm), PT Triputra Investindo Arya(one of Indonesia's largest privately

held groups), Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, 1982 Ventures, Willy

Suwandi Dharma(former President Director of PT Asuransi Adira Dinamika), and

others.

Founded by Tobias Fischer (CEO) and Sasanadi Ruka (CTO), former Grab and

Tokopedia executives, the investment will be used to accelerate the adoption of

wagely's financial wellness platform. "More than 100 million Indonesian lower-

and middle-income workers are living paycheck to paycheck and struggle with

unexpected financial expenses between paychecks - which in turn impacts

businesses with higher turnover, lower productivity, and more employee loans,"

says Tobias Fischer, CEO, wagely. "Our workplaces are changing rapidly,

especially since COVID-19 struck. Now the way people are getting paid is

changing too, and at scale. wagely turns paychecks into progress providing

financial flexibility for millions of underserved lower- and middle-income

workers in Indonesia and beyond."

The raise caps off an impressive first year for wagely, which saw its partner

network grow to more than 50 large enterprises that have already adopted the

startup's financial wellness solution including PT Bentoel Internasional

Investama Tbk (British American Tobacco), PT Supra Boga Lestari Tbk (Ranch

Market), PT Mustika Ratu Tbk, PT Kencana Energi Lestari Tbk, and others.

"wagely offers our employees financial stability in times of uncertainty. It is

incredibly important and a crucial step for the long-term resilience of our

business. With no changes to our payroll process, wagely's solution has proven

to increase our business savings and helped our employees to avoid predatory

loans while providing savings and budgeting tools that increase their financial

literacy," says Wilson Maknawi, President Director, PT Kencana Energi Lestari,

Tbk.

As concerns over COVID-19 continue to grow, employers around the world,

including Walmart, Pizza Hut and Visa, are turning to earned wage access

solutions to reduce turnover, enhance productivity, and increase business

savings. Investors are taking note. Dailypay, a leading US-based earned wage

access provider, just recently raised US$500 million and reached unicorn

status. Other earned wage access providers are backed by Softbank (Payactiv,

US), Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates (Wagestream, UK; Minu, MEX), and Peter Thiel

(Even, US). Payactiv already counts more than 2 million users and has processed

more than US$5 billion in earned wage access, highlighting the tremendous

potential of the space.

Commenting on the investment Christiaan Kaptein, Partner, Integra Partners,

says, "We are proud to partner with Tobias, Didi, and the team at wagely in

their mission to bring financial wellbeing to employees in Indonesia and across

the region. The strategic participation of several Indonesian investment groups

as well as the Asian Development Bank underscores wagely's leadership role in

the space and the Indonesian market." Daniel Hersson, Senior Fund Manager, ADB

Ventures adds, "Our investment affirms our conviction that wagely has what it

takes to mainstream financial inclusion and literacy in Indonesia. wagely

offers workers what they did not have before: a fair and accessible financial

tool to help them manage life's inevitable contingencies and emergencies,

including those caused by climate change."

wagely is onboarding new partners every day across Indonesia. Its customers

include British American Tobacco, Ranch Market, Mustika Ratu, Kencana Energy,

and others. Interested companies can learn more and reach out

here(https://url.wagely.app/getting-started).

SOURCE  wagely