GajiGesa Raises $2.5 Million To Reach More Underbanked Indonesians

The FinTech GajiGesa Indonesia has landed $2.5 million in a seed round of funding. The company announced via LinkedIn that the funding will be used to “help expand financial resilience for workers across Indonesia.”

Funders included Defy.vc, Quest Ventures, GK-Plug and Play Indonesia, Next Billion Ventures, Alto Partners and Kanmo Group.

“At GajiGesa, we firmly believe every hardworking Indonesian deserves financial fairness, security and dignity,” said Co-founder Martyna Malinowska. She added that the company would give workers the tools they need.

The company was founded last year by Malinowska and her husband, Vidit Agrawal. She said she worked with many people who did not have bank accounts while at LenddoEFL, an alternative credit assessment platform.

ProWellTech reported that GajiGesa would focus on services aimed at underbanked workers in Indonesia, where the company is based. About 66 percent of Indonesia’s 260 million people are “bankless,” meaning they lack a bank account and have limited access to financial services such as loans. When they do need to borrow funds, they face exorbitant interest rates. Agrawal told the news source that while he was working for Uber, he found that for drivers and others, “the most common reason for borrowing was short-term liquidity problems.”

Since launching in October 2020, GajiGesa has added over 30 employers to its platform, serving tens of thousands of workers in total, the company said. “Workers can instantly get wages earned, track earnings, pay bills, purchase prepaid cards and access financial education resources via an app.”

Keeping unbanked consumers connected to the broader financial world has grown especially tricky over the past few years, as cash use has dipped and digital payments have been on the rise. In fact, the number of U.S. consumers who are classified as unbanked or underbanked is growing for the first time in several years, as the health crisis drives widespread job losses and lowers incomes. About eight million Americans fell below the poverty line after federal stimulus aid was curtailed by Congress last May.