KONTAN.CO.ID - SINGAPORE. Indonesia's Xendit, which bills itself as Southeast Asia's alternative to payments processing platform Stripe, has raised $300 million in preparation for regional expansion, its co-founders said in an interview.

The eight-year old company, which said in a statement on Thursday it has raised $538 million in total, is valued at nearly $3 billion, according to a source familiar with the latest fundraising round.

Xendit is hoping to tap into a booming internet market in the region, with an eye to expanding in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, chief operations officer Tessa Wijaya and CEO Moses Lo told Reuters last week.

Southeast Asia's internet economy is forecast to grow to $360 billion by 2025, according to a study by Alphabet's Google, Temasek, and consultancy Bain & Company.

But the financial infrastructure startup is set to face a tough challenge from global and local rivals, including from Stripe, which has ramped up efforts in Indonesia and the Philippines.

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Wijaya said Xendit had processed $15 billion in payments across Indonesia and the Philippines over the last year, up from $6.5 billion the year before.

"Since COVID, we're seeing a lot of companies that would have traditionally banked on the offline space, signing up with us in droves," she said, noting that Xendit now has 3,000 enterprises in its client list, ranging from telecoms and retail mall conglomerates to small and medium enterprises.

Xendit's latest round of funding was led by U.S.-based private equity firm Insight Partners and hedge fund Coatue, with other funds coming from Tiger Global, Accel, Kleiner Perkins, and Indonesia's East Ventures.

"We think we can consolidate a market leadership position across the region," said Insight Partners Managing Director Nikhil Sachdev.

The company has a minority stake in Indonesian bank Sahabat Sampoerna and is set to acquire two other financial firms, according to regulatory filings reported in local media. It also made a strategic investment in Philippines fintech firm DragonPay in 2021.

It has focused in both countries on developing alternative payment methods, including through convenience stores or through direct credit on ride-hailing platform Grab.

Editor: Herlina Kartika Dewi