Xendit provides payment solutions and simplifies the payment process for SMEs, e-commerce startups and large enterprises in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia. 

Founded in 2015 by Moses Lo (CEO), Tessa Wijaya (COO), Bo Chen (CTO), and Juan Gonzales (Principle Software Engineer), Xendit enables businesses to accept payments (from direct debit, virtual accounts, credit and debit cards, eWallets, retail outlets, and online instalments), disburse payroll, run marketplaces and more on an easy integration platform supported by 24×7 customer service.

The fintech firm serves over 3,000 customers, including Samsung Indonesia, GrabPay, Ninja Van Philippines, Qoala, Unicef Indonesia, Cashalo, and Shopback.

Xendit, the first Indonesian startup to graduate from Y Combinator, became a unicorn in 2022. Last year, it closed a US$300 million Series D investment round. It has raised US$535 million across several rounds of funding so far, and its investors include Coatue, Insight Partners, Tiger Global, Accel, Amasia, and Goat Capital.

Also Read: Xendit bags US$64.6M Series B led by Accel to scale its digital payments service across Southeast Asia

In this interview, CEO Moses Lo discusses the company’s journey and achievements and how it navigates the current global economic crisis.

Excerpts:

How has been the past 2-3 years for the company from a business growth perspective?

It has been great. We have continued growing fast and are proud of our growth coming out of COVID-19. It is also good to see our new markets growing well too.

How does the current global economic slowdown affect your business, and what steps have you taken to mitigate any negative impacts? Have you noticed any changes in customer behaviour or demand, and how have you responded?

We see a general slowdown in the economy which means we see slower growth from many of our customers. To respond to this situation, we’ve looked for new types and new verticals of customers that we can help with our products and services.

We continue to talk to our customers about what they need the most and what’s important to them during this period. We focus on parts of the product that can increase efficiency and solve the pains that customers are talking about

How has your financial strategy changed in light of the current market conditions, and what measures have you taken to ensure long-term sustainability?

In a macro environment like this, the money you get won’t be as cheap as when the markets were good, so we need to be more controlled and aware of costs relative to revenue.

Can you speak of recent fundraising efforts and how the current economic climate impacted those efforts?

We were lucky to raise enough funds when markets were strong. Our latest round was a Series D in 2022. We’ve managed the cash wisely, so we have a long runway. So we don’t need to raise more money for a long period.

Can you discuss any cost-cutting measures you’ve implemented and how those measures have impacted your business operations? Did you lay off employees to stay afloat in the market?

We’re putting greater emphasis on the return on investments (ROI) of teams and initiatives. This means making sure we are being more careful in spending money, and when we do, we make sure that the ROI is there.

Can you speak of any market opportunities that have emerged due to the economic downturn and how your company is capitalising on those opportunities?

From a product point of view, times like this bring different challenges from our customers, so we are adapting to meet their needs (e.g. increasing conversion rates increases ROI on our merchant spend).

Also Read: Xendit becomes a unicorn after a Tiger Global-led US$150M Series C round

Our war chest allows us to form strong partnerships with other tech companies.

How do you balance the need for short-term financial stability with the long-term goals of your business?

For a long time, with previous market conditions, startups focused more on short-term wins rather than long-term goals. Macros now provide an excellent shift to better balance the two – which means we can also focus on and achieve our long-term goals.

Can you discuss your plans for diversifying your revenue streams or expanding into new markets in light of the current economic climate?

We’ve already expanded into Malaysia and will continue to see more opportunities in these macro conditions. Southeast Asia presents many growth opportunities, and we’re looking at more countries for expansion.

How have you maintained a strong company culture and motivated your team during these challenging times?

More than ever, we need to band together through crucible moments in wartime – these are often the best opportunities for teams to bond because you know you can make it together.

Do we see an end to the raise-cash-burn-cash growth model and the emergence of the ‘make profits, sustain & grow’ model?

Given the macro-environment, more companies are moving down the profit and loss (P&L). There’s still an appetite to ensure growth, and those that can scale are more valued than those that can’t. Contribution margins and lower parts of the P&L matter more these days.

What learnings can early or growth-stage companies take from late-stage companies?

If I knew I would get here, I could’ve done many things to prepare for this scale, such as putting in the proper mechanism to support large-scale distributed teams. Amazon has excellent advice and experience doing this well.

How is the mindset and cultural shift happening internally since we are in a high-interest rate environment and funding isn’t going to be as easy as before?

At Xendit, we’re spending a lot of time doing three things:

1. Setting the context: developing a “wartime” mindset

2. ROI and accountability: measuring the ROI of every single initiative/person/idea and forcing much greater responsibility for decisions, resources, etc.

3. AI: the advent of AI means we can be much more productive at higher quality. For example, our engineers saw 60–6,000 per cent capacity and efficiency improvements.

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GM.co today announced the launch of a new crypto-exclusive e-commerce marketplace catering to B2C customers.

Launched by Phantom Network co-founders Julian Chow, Daniel Whyte, Lori Liu and Ferhat Dogru, GM.co offers an opportunity for the Web3 community to buy and sell real-world items using cryptocurrency.

Its mission is to make buying real-life goods using crypto as simple as it is to go to Amazon using traditional currency.

GM.co’s Beta platform, launched in March, has already added over 1,000 items, including apparel, shoes, luxury items, and collectibles, besides extraordinary offerings like Mech pilot training, a luxurious omakase yacht experience, and the Guinness World Record-holding ‘PROTHESIS’ tetrapod exoskeleton.

The marketplace has also collaborated with The Open Network (TON), a decentralised and open internet created by the Web3 community using a technology designed by Telegram.

Also Read: Ex-Chope VP Cassandra Ong launches remote-based marketing consulting firm OtterHalf

“Our mission is to be the go-to marketplace for forward-thinking shoppers and sellers alike while providing the most secure e-commerce platform run on the blockchain,” said Chow.

Users can connect their crypto wallets like MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or WalletConnect to make purchases on GM.co. They can choose to pay with USDC or Ether (ETH) to participating merchants while the firm plans to onboard other cryptocurrencies in the long term. For ease of browsing, shoppers can apply the ‘Shipping’ filter for a list of products and services that are available in their region.

All transactions on GM.co are verified. GM.co also offers an Escrow service for users who prefer added assurance while shopping on the platform.

GM.co has onboarded several notable brands, including OSIM, OHTNYC, and BLVCK Paris.

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

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Corporations can be a great asset to the climate tech startup community, especially when it comes to building a sustainable business. They can help startups grow and prosper by providing them with the kind of support that they need, from funding to networking.

However, in order to have a successful business partnership between climate tech startups and corporates, there have to be adjustments from both sides.

“The first draft is not going to be perfect, but it’s going to be beautiful. We embrace the journey together as we are all learning the space of sustainability,” says Liyana Sulaiman, Chief Product & Technology Officer / Co-Founder, Pollen, in a panel discussion on the second day of Echelon Asia Summit 2023.

“Then, coupled with the culture of experimentation, I think the transparency is needed on both sides,” she continues.

Noting the cultural difference between climate tech startups and corporates, Gavin Chua, Head of Stakeholder Engagement, APAC, Meta, stressed the importance of building an understanding.

“Startups tend to be nimble and agile, but corporates are not always able to do that, so there has to be a bridging point,” he said. “Especially when corporations do not have the organisational structure to do that.”

Also Read: Why these startups focus on informal plastic waste workers in the fight against climate crisis

At the same panel discussion, Nicole Mao, Co-Founder & CEO at Tiger China Energy,  gave an example of corporations and climate tech startups’ collaboration.

“For example, if you have a petrol station or a convenience store chain, you can join us as a partner with 70 per cent of the income going to you. You just have to provide a physical place for us,” she explains.

Pushing startups to be environmentally responsible

Still related to the topic of environmental sustainability, in a fireside chat at the same event, Susli Lie, Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, explains the venture capital firm’s ESG approach.

While ESG is not a part of the firm’s investment thesis as a sector-agnostic, generalist fund, it has included ESG as another layer of consideration on top of its existing investment vetting process.

“When we are getting more serious about the potential of investment, we will typically run an internal process just to make sure that we have a preliminary assessment on the ESG-related risks and opportunities that we have to watch out for,” Lie explained.

“This is typically not a huge issue because most companies that we invest in are software companies. Once we are actively in conversation with them and decide to give them a term sheet, I will start to have a direct conversation about what they are doing about ESG.”

Also Read: The key to tackling climate change: Electrify shipping

While Lie acknowledged that ESG in investment is still not a popular discourse in Southeast Asia, Monk’s Hill Ventures want to be at the forefront of this movement.

“Some people questioned the practicality of requiring early stage startups to have anything related to ESG. Like, is that even a fair demand? So, there is a fair level of scepticism still. This is true across the founders’ community and the investor community,” Lie says.

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Kazakhstan’s real estate market is unique.

In this Central Asian country, property owners don’t necessarily reside in the same cities where their properties are located. This is different from markets such as Singapore.

Two Kazakh entrepreneurs sensed a tremendous opportunity here and launched an online platform for property owners to share their properties via smart home solutions remotely.

“We have built a powerful platform that greatly simplifies the rental management process for landlords,” says Kanat Keldibekov, Founder and CEO of ApartX. “This also means tenants can directly rent the property without face-to-face interactions with property owners.”

Founded in 2020 by Keldibekov and Ivan Chalyk, ApartX is a B2B SaaS platform for landlords providing short-term rentals. ApartX automates up to 90 per cent of the operation process of 1,700 properties by using biometrics, smart locks, and digital sign technologies with integration into major rental platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com.

Also Read: Kazakh proptech startup ApartX raises seed funding for SEA expansion

Its features include managing property bookings, signing digital rent agreements, and remotely unlocking smart locks.

“We provide and install smart locks for our clients for free,” adds Keldibekov. “Our revenue comes from the rental payment for the locks + software access fee of US$20 per month or US$1 per booking.”

It does not charge the end consumers/tenants.

The startup now plans to expand locally and into Southeast Asia. To accelerate expansion, it announced a seed raise of US$250,000 from Kazakhstan-based Big Sky Capital and Activat VC early this week.

“We will use the capital to strengthen our R&D, attract experienced specialists and improve the platform’s functionality. We will also expand into new regions and increase our market share actively. A portion of the capital will go into strengthening our presence in Central Asia and establishing strategic partnerships with key players in the industry,” Keldibekov noted.

Before the latest round of funding, ApartX raised funding from Singapore-based Quest Ventures as part of the Kazakhstan Digital Accelerator programme, which was managed in conjunction with Qazakhstan Investment Corporation, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan.

ApartX was also recognised as the best IoT startup by Kazakhtelecom in 2018. In 2021, it was adjudged the best startup of the year at the International Technology Forum – Digital Bridge.

“We are determined to continue enhancing the rental process by increasing transparency and improving safety,” he concludes.

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Fintech company Longan Group has been named as the winner of the 2023 TOP100 on the final day of the Echelon Asia Summit 2023.

Longan is an ethical and inclusive debt management company supporting consumers and financial institutions to manage their finances more efficiently, on a mission to solve consumer indebtedness and promote financial health among the two billion population across Asia.

The company is currently operating in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Also Read: Our final batch of startups competing at this year’s TOP100

In addition to the company, TOP100 finalists include ALPHACIRCLE, Ayo Indonesia, Boost Capital, EkkBaz, Letitu, Longan Group, NextPay, Pajak.io, Quest, and Retimark.

TOP100 is a startup pitching competition that was held as part of the Echelon Asia Summit 2023.

One hundred startups pitched their companies to judges and thousands of delegates at the TOP100 stage for an opportunity to move on to the finals and the chance to win the The Unicorn. Prior to the pitching, the competition received hundreds of applications and make hundreds of connections over the e27 Pro platform.

The event included a panel of judges that consists of Weisheng Neo, General Partner at Qualgro Partner; Susli Lie, Partner Monk’s Hill Ventures; Martin Cu, Partner at 500 Global; Tanuja Rajah, Partner at M Venture Partner, and Johan Surani, Vice President, Peak XV Partners.

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