DOKU expands access to digital payments with Apis Growth Fund II investing US$32 Million

Jakarta, Indonesia, August 5th, 2021 – DOKU has received funding of US$32 million from Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP, a UK-based asset manager that supports growth stage financial services and financial technology businesses. DOKU, one of Indonesia’s leading independent digital payment platforms, is the first company in Indonesia to receive an investment from Apis Partners’ funds. The investment will be used to accelerate product development and services, as well as expand digital payment access for Indonesians.

Founded in 2007, DOKU is the only digital payment player in Indonesia with a complete set of payment licenses, allowing them to offer complementary fund transfers, e-wallet and e-money solutions to their customers. In addition, DOKU has also collaborated with remittance partners in neighbouring countries to facilitate cross-border transfers. The company continues to show impressive growth, having processed 47.0 million transactions with a total payment value of US$ 2.9billion in 2020 alone. Supported by the funding from Apis Growth Fund II, DOKU plans to continue innovating through the launch of new offerings for Indonesian businesses & consumers, and broadening the company’s geographic reach. As one of the pioneers in Indonesian payment gateways, DOKU has a deep understanding of the local market and is well equipped to build the modern payment solutions needed to enable digital commerce in Indonesia and the broader region.

Apis Partners was drawn to DOKU’s exceptional management team and product innovation capabilities in what is the largest internet economy in Southeast Asia. With a diverse portfolio of companies engaged in capital-light financial services Apis Partners has also built robust institutional expertise across the digital payments value chain and is excited to work with the DOKU team and drive their next phase of growth in this large and fast-growing market. In addition, as an ESGI-native investor, Apis Partners will also be focused on ensuring the sustainability and societal impact of its investment in DOKU is maximized. With its own mission to drive access to payment solutions in underserved segments of the Indonesian economy, DOKU espouses the same values and looks forward to a synergistic collaboration.

DOKU Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Nabilah Alsagoff explained, “Together with Apis Partners, we plan to give greater access for Indonesians to perform online payments and enjoy a simple and seamless product experience. Our company will be able to invest in engineering and product development for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as to encourage digital payment literacy for this sector. As business becomes increasingly borderless through digital innovations – which have only been accelerated by the pandemic – we see this as the right time to transform the way people do business in Indonesia. Furthermore, Community empowerment and financial inclusion are at the centre of DOKU’s innovation, and we are very happy to share this vision together. Apis Partners are financial services-focused investors with deep expertise in payments and hold a portfolio of payment companies around the world. We believe we will benefit from their proven experience in supporting companies like DOKU. We see the collaboration with Apis Partners as a new chapter for DOKU and are excited to move forward with the partnership.”

Apis Partners Managing Partner and Co-Founder Matteo Stefanel said “We are delighted to partner with DOKU in what is Apis Partners’ first investment in Indonesia, reflecting our confidence in the country as an investment location. We are excited to work with a team that has already built a market leading organization, and look forward to accelerating the firm’s growth and already impressive signup figures.”

Apis Partners Managing Partner and Co-Founder Udayan Goyal continued: “DOKU is well-positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunity for the payments industry in Indonesia, and we are thrilled to be working with them on this journey. We look forward to sharing our experience in financial services and the digital payment sector with the impressive management team as they look to bring digital payments to a wider audience.”

PT DBS Vickers Sekuritas Indonesia acted as the advisor for the transaction. DBSVI is the brokerage and investment banking arm for DBS Group in Indonesia.

About DOKU

DOKU is a payment enabler, the first Indonesian-owned electronic payment solutions provider to offer local payment solutions tailored to address merchants’ online payment needs. Established and registered under PT Nusa Satu Inti Artha in 2007, DOKU is the first Indonesian company to earn the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Level 1 version 3.1 certification. Servicing over 22,000 merchants across various industries with direct connection to major banks and other financial institutions in Indonesia, DOKU provides a diverse range of payment options for its merchants and online shoppers in Indonesia. DOKU provides the most complete electronic payment options for merchants and ecommerce consumers across Indonesia and abroad.

DOKU has obtained five licenses from Bank of Indonesia which enables us to offer a variety of solutions, such as payment gateway, domestic fund transfers, cross border remittance, biller payments, e-money, and e-wallet. For more information, please visit doku.com, find us on Facebook and Twitter (DOKU ID), or email press@doku.com

About Apis Partners

The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native global private equity asset manager that supports growth stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of c. 30 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of $1.2B.

Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in seven countries across Europe, North, East and West Africa and South and Southeast Asia.

Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis’ approach and investment mandate. Apis became a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) upon inception of the firm in 2014.

www.apis.pe