Indonesian digital business converter and accelerator DIVA has completed its acquisition of a 30% ownership stake in local point-of-sale (POS) startup Pawoon.
According to an official release, which did not specify the financial details of the deal, the investment will see both companies expedite their business expansion more rapidly in the areas of technology development, product innovation as well as sales and marketing.
Publicly-listed DIVA aims to modernise small and medium enterprises operating in Indonesia, empowering them with both technology and innovative products.
The company provides a unified multi-payment device called DIVA Smart Outlet (OS) that can process various cash and non-cash payments as “point-of-sale” (POS) and offers digital products, as well as an AI-empowered integrated messaging platform called DIVA IIM, which rides on popular applications such as WhatsApp, LINE, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger.
Pawoon, meanwhile, offers a software and hardware solution to Indonesian small and medium enterprises, allowing businesses to manage their inventory and payment.
The company, which raised its Series A funding round from local VC Kejora Ventures last year, claims to be utilised by more than 10,000 merchants, spread over 200 cities nationwide.
“With DIVA’s rich product inventories, established infrastructure, nationwide market coverage and business connections, we intend to lever the inherent competitive advantage of Pawoon, enabling broader and quicker expansion. Pawoon’s advance platform and huge customer base will thus bolster the business strength of DIVA formidably,” said DIVA director Dian Kurniadi.
As a showcase, DIVA and AAT have co-launched a new “smart outlet” product, combining DIVA technology with the Pawoon PoS platform, Kurniadi added.
The investment received by Pawoon further heats up the competition in Indonesia’s mPOS space, which is seeing more capital being pumped into the industry, particularly following the $24-million funding secured by Moka in a round led by Sequoia India.
For DIVA, the investment in Pawoon is expected to be the first of a few investments it will be making into other startups following its IPO.
In an exclusive with DealStreetAsia earlier this year, the company said it is actively looking into more deals and expects to seal at least one more investment this year to expand its variety of use cases.
The company, a subsidiary of Indonesian investment firm Kresna Graha Investama, went public in October last year, raising $43 million in an oversubscribed IPO round on the IDX, in which it offered 400 million new shares.
It counts as the third tech startup taken to IPO on the Indonesian Stock Exchange by Kresna, following the listings of its other subsidiaries M Cash and NFC Indonesia.
