Indonesia blockchain player Ekta raises $60m
Indonesia’s Ekta, a blockchain ecosystem operator with a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and eponymous cryptocurrency, has raised USD 60m from US-based Global Emerging Markets (GEM).
It extends a spate of sizeable blockchain deals in Indonesia, where the number of crypto investors is estimated to have doubled in the past year to around 12m, versus 7m domestic public equity investors.
Earlier this month, crypto wallet and trading platform Pintu raised a USD 113m Series B round, while Pluang, a diversified micro-finance app with crypto services, raised USD 110m in Series B funding as of January. Both start-ups received significant funding from generalist mainstream investors.
Ekta expands this space with an NFT marketplace it hopes to develop into a cross-chain platform for trading, staking, and exchanging physical assets with digital assets representation. There are also various web3-related interests, including play-to-earn game MetaTrees and virtual real estate features called Ekta Island and Ekta Assets.
The most unique business line is arguably Ekta Portal, which is touted as the first-ever endpoint node that rewards users in crypto. This is a physical device for the home that connects users to the EktaChain network and is designed to be usable with no prior experience with nodes. It costs USD 650m.
The hardware, which is said to use 75 times less power than typical nodes, automatically whitelists customers for Ekta’s other products. It will distribute a rewards pool of 10,000 Ekta tokens per day evenly among the number of devices in operation. This is meant to incentivise early uptake of the device since users would receive a larger portion of the 10,000-token allotment.
“We are in a very good position during this down period because we believe the next trend is for blockchain to bridge to the physical world and Ekta has been doing that since 2021,” Ekta co-founder and CEO Berwin Tanco told Tech in Asia.
“While 10% of people on the internet hold crypto, we aim at onboarding the next 10% by building true utility and value for them.”
GEM manages USD 3.4bn in alternative assets with funds targeting small to midcap buyouts, PIPE deals, and venture opportunities globally. Asian portfolio holdings include a controlling position in Hong Kong-based electronics manufacturer Ansen Electronics as well as minority stakes in oil exploration supplier China PetroTech and logging company China Timber Resources.
More on Southeast Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.