BNPL player Akulaku raises US$10m in debt round led by Lend East

FINTECH unicorn Akulaku has raised US$10 million in a post-Series D debt round led by Lend East, a digital lending platform that connects global institutional capital with alternate lenders in South-east Asia and India.

The funds will be used to expand Akulaku's lending portfolio in the key markets of Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The Indonesia-based company operates a "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) and consumer financing platform, and said it has disbursed over US$2.2 billion of credit in 2021 to over 10 million users.

Akulaku's platform also includes features such as wealth management, e-commerce services and digital banking.

The company was said to be in early talks with Catcha Investment Corp, a special purpose acquisition company set up by Catcha Group co-founder Patrick Grove, for a US listing this year. The deal could value the company at US$2 billion, Bloomberg reported.