Spenmo fintech startup, a payment-for-business (payable software) SaaS solution provider, announced series A funding round of $34 million (over 484 billion Rupiah) led by Insight Partners, a VC from the United States. Other investors participating in this round include Addition, Salesforce Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, Global Founders’ Capital, Broadhaven, Operator Partners and Commerce Ventures.
Apart from institutional investors, several angel investors also participated. They are William Hockey (Plaid’s founder), Andy Cohen (Ex-SVP of Sales Bill.com), Ongki Kurniawan (Head of Stripe Indonesia), Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal (Snapdeal’s founder), Matt Doka (Fivestars’ founder), and John Kim (Sendbird’s founder).
It is said that this funding is one of the largest series A rounds that the Y Combinator-backed company has successfully closed in Southeast Asia.
The fresh funds will be used to build market penetration and access to more than 20 million SMEs and mid-sized markets in Southeast Asia. Most of the segment doesn’t use any software to manage their debts, previously using spreadsheets or human labor.
Spenmo is a fintech company that provides SaaS solutions for managing business payments through corporate credit card products aimed at SMEs and medium-sized enterprises as the target users. This credit card is intended to help businesses manage finances when paying bills, tracking, categorizing purchases, and bookkeeping on autopilot in 90% less time.
In Indonesia, Spenmo already has a local team and is actively recruiting new talents. The Spenmo website is available in Indonesian to target new users.
In an official statement, Spenmo’s Co-founder & CEO, Mohandass Kalaichelvan explained, Spenmo’s services were previously considered a back-office function, but finance and debt are an important part of running a business.
“The finance team that implemented our service got their hours back. On average, they save over 50 hours and $10K each month. Our goal is to return 10 billion man-hours every year to finance teams across the region,” he said.
Insight Partners’ Principal, Rebecca Liu-Doyle has joined the board of directors at Spenmo after this round. She said that the payment industry would be disrupted, especially in Southeast Asia, which Spenmo’s solution had not yet explored. “We are delighted to be able to play a part in Spenmo’s journey to continue to innovate and develop,” Rebecca said.
Since its launching in Singapore last year, Spenmo has expanded across Southeast Asia, bringing in several thousand customers representing a wide range of sectors, from high-growth startups to SMEs, mid-market companies and accounting firms.
Corporate credit card
Corporate credit card is an expensive item for SMEs in Indonesia as banks have a number of strict requirements for the application process. Almost all banks issue corporate credit card products as their target users, in addition to credit cards for retail.
Due to the gap, it finally opens up opportunities for fintech lending players exposed to finance business capital or KTA. At Spenmo, the physical and virtual credit cards they present allows companies to easily manage team expenses and lot of bills by providing invoice payment features and automatic bank transfers.
Spenmo provides virtual and physical credit cards to pay rent, invoices, and employee salaries on a scheduled basis in the dashboard. Also, you can easily integrate the API with accounting software (such as Xero, SAP, and myob) already used by the company.
It is claimed that SMEs can apply for a Spenmo account with a 30 minute process, control (freeze and cash out) spending with just one click, and prioritize security by setting pre-approved funds to avoid overspending.
B2B paylater trend
In addition to corporate credit cards or productive capital loans, B2B paylater services has been intensively implemented. According to a research publication released by DSInnovate entitled “Indonesia Paylater Ecosystem Report 2021”, currently there are several startup collaborations that offer these services.
The concept is that the fintech lending service acts as a partner in providing financing, synergizing with the owner of the procurement service — both goods and services. In contrast to lending services that provide cash capital loans, B2B paylater focuses on financing or purchasing business equipment.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
