Cryptocurrency Transactions in Indonesia reached $60 billion last year, the country’s trade agency for commodity futures said. Crypto Exchange and Marketplace Reku has ridden the wave with what it claims to be the lowest cost in the market, and a platform aimed at both newbies and experienced traders. Today, the startup, founded in 2017, announced it has raised $11 million in Series A funding led by AC Ventures (ACV) with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Skystar Capital.
This is Reku’s (formerly called Rekeningku.com) first round of institutional funding. The company generated $3 billion in gross transaction value in 2021 and is profitable. The founders say Reku’s five-year operation means they know how to scale and tolerate fluctuations in the market, including this year’s pandemic and recession.
Reku, which currently has 80 employees, plans to add 50 additional features with the funding. The platform will also continue to focus on security, compliance, efficiency and scalability, said co-founder and CEO Sumardi Fung. Reku recently appointed Jesse Choi, a former private equity investor at Bain Capital, as COO.
Reku .’s team
Fung said the company “sees a significant gap in the market for products that actively guide users from the very beginning of their crypto journey until they become experts themselves. Education is one thing, but our vision is to create products that seamlessly guide all users to smart investing.”
Reku makes the platform accessible to novice traders with educational features. It complies with the Indonesian Commodity Trade Agency (BAPPEBTI) and emphasizes user safety by offering only established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Before founding Reku, Fung spent 12 years in the futures trading industry.
“In 2017 and 2018, crypto was not that big, but we saw a huge opportunity there. Internet penetration increased rapidly, after which it would lead to a more resourceful community where people would seek simplicity, like a global currency,” Fund told australiabusinessblog.com. “The logic behind blockchain has always made sense to me and we can certainly see a future where people would demand a more transparent financial system.”
Choi added that Indonesian traders initially saw cryptocurrency as a way to make money, but are increasingly interested in other uses of blockchain. “An example of this is NFTs,” he said. “Relatively speaking, there is a huge amount of construction activity coming out of Indonesia, not only projects, but also infrastructure and tools aimed at the global market. And in fact, Indonesia is one of the leading countries when it comes to crypto and web3 adoption.”
In a statement, ACV founder and managing partner Michael Soerijadji said: “We are delighted to lead this investment in Reku. With an intuitive user experience, the lowest cost in the market and a great leadership team, we are confident that Reku will extend its leadership in Indonesia’s vibrant crypto industry.”
