Ayoconnect's 2022 Rewind: Start Strong, Finish Stronger

The year 2022 has been a momentous year for Ayoconnect. Despite any challenges faced, milestones were achieved, exciting collaborations were made, and further steps were taken toward elevating financial services  in Southeast Asia with open finance.

As a token of gratitude towards everyone that's been a part of Ayoconnect’s journey until this day, here are some of the highlights of the year:

Secured a Total of $28M Series B and B+ Fundraise

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In the beginning of 2022, Ayoconnect closed a US$15 million Series B funding round led by Tiger Global. The round was joined by PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus, and Alto Partners, as well as individual strategic investors, including Plaid Co-Founder, William Hockey and President Commissioner of Bank Jago, Jerry Ng.

Later in the fourth quarter, we secured a US$13 million Series B+ funding round, increasing the total fundraise for the year to $28M. This round was led by Susquehanna International Group, LLP (SIG Venture Capital) with participation from CE Innovation Capital and returning investor, PayU.

Our CEO and Founder, Jakob Rost, expressed his gratitude to the Ayoconnect team for their hard work and dedication, as well as our new and previous investors who have supported us. He said, "The biggest thanks goes to our incredible team for doing such amazing work day in and day out, as well as our new and previous investors that have put their trust in Ayoconnect."

New Collaborations with Our Valuable Partners

This was also the year we successfully collaborated with new partners from within and outside the fintech industry, such as GrabKios, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf), Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), NOBU Bank, Searce, Bank Mandiri, BPJamsostek, and many more.

The Launch of Direct Debit Solution

By collaborating with seven of Indonesia’s largest banks, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), CIMB Niaga, Bank Danamon, Bank Syariah Indonesia (BNI), and Bank Neo Commerce, we launched the direct debit solution. This solution enables businesses to automate customers’ payments, for both single transactions and recurring  payments.

The Grand Opening of Connect Lounge

In October, we officially moved into our new open and collaboration space, Connect Lounge. Located in Menara Binakarsa, South Jakarta, we envision it to be a platform for synergy with internal teams, industry leaders, and partners to support our big mission to evangelize #OpenFinance in Indonesia and ultimately, Southeast Asia.

Collaboration with the Government Institutions and Associations

As part of Ayoconnect's mission to support the advancement of digitalization innovation within Indonesia’s financial services industry, we collaborate with government institutions and associations through various events such as Indonesian Digital Financial Economy Festival (FEKDI), BUMN Startup Day, Tempo Economic Forum 2023, Fintech National Month (BFN) 2022 event series, and Tempo Financial Awards 2022.

The First Product Tech Connect

We hosted our first Product Day, Product Tech Connect, a get-together for product and engineering professionals within the fintech industry. Together with speakers from DANA Indonesia, AstraPay, Google Cloud Indonesia, Bank Neo Commerce, and Akseleran, we had exciting discussions on the potential for #OpenFinance despite the looming economic downturn in 2023.

Held in Connect Lounge, Product Tech Connect invited more than 50 industry leaders and innovators. It brought a great opportunity for all participants to connect and ideate for product development in the field. This event will definitely make a comeback next year, so stay tuned!

Awards, Licenses, and Certifications

Ayoconnect received a Bank of Indonesia (BI) Payment Service Provider (PSP) Category 1 license and registered in The Financial Services Authority (OJK) this year. Being the only open finance company in Indonesia to have the license, we provide assurance for our partners that all services provided comply with the prevailing regulations.

Additionally, we completed the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification and ISO 27001 certification for Information Security Management, further demonstrating our commitment to upholding the highest standards of security and compliance.

In addition, we made many new initiatives to connect with our valued employees and partners through fun activities, such as football live viewing, city meetups, and more. We also started programs for university students, providing them opportunities for growth through case study competitions and seminars. Watch our complete journey in 2022 through this video.

An end of a year means a beginning for another. This year, we started strong and finished even stronger. We are looking forward to welcoming the new year 2023 and continuing to #moveforward with #openfinance. Thank you for having walked this journey with us, we wish you a happy new year and a joyful time with loved ones.

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The year 2022 has been a momentous year for Ayoconnect. Despite any challenges faced, milestones were achieved, exciting collaborations were made, and further steps were taken toward elevating financial services in Southeast Asia with open finance.

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