Indonesian digital credit unicorn Kredivo has acquired a 100% stake in digital bank Timo to accelerate its banking ambitions in Vietnam, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
Transaction details were not disclosed, and the deal was completed a few months ago. Following the acquisition, Timo will operate as a department within Kredivo.
Kredivo Group’s co-founder and CEO, Akshay Garg, is expected to oversee the operations of the combined entity. The Timo brand will remain in place as the digital banking platform, while Kredivo’s lending technology will power its credit products.
Over the next three years, Kredivo plans to invest approximately $15 million in Vietnam, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing fintech markets.
The acquisition was first reported by TechInAsia on Thursday (March 12).
In 2021, FinAccel, the parent company of Kredivo, forayed into Vietnam by taking a controlling stake in a local joint venture. FinAccel’s joint venture partner is Ho Chi Minh City-based Phoenix Holdings, a family office and operational holding company.
In December last year, sources told DealStreetAsia that Kredivo had secured more than $100 million in fresh funding led by long-time backer Mizuho Bank. The deal, structured with a sizeable secondary component, is aimed at providing long-pending liquidity to early shareholders.
In February, Kredivo acquired a 100% stake in GajiGesa, a homegrown earned wage access (EWA) startup in a distress sale. Sources told DealStreetAsia that the deal pegged the total transaction value at up to $5-6 million, a fraction of GajiGesa’s last valuation (around $30 million).
Timo, Vietnam’s first digital bank, was founded in 2015 by Don Lam, who is also the CEO of asset management firm VinaCapital. It offers payments, cards, investments, insurance, and instalment loans. Timo claims it was one of the first in Vietnam to offer e-KYC services.
In 2023, the digital bank reportedly raised $10 million from existing investors. In 2022, Timo raised $20 million in a Square Peg-led round, joined by a spate of fintech players such as FinAccel, StashAway, Pluang and Airwallex alongside Jungle Ventures, Granite Oak, and Phoenix Holdings.
In 2019, Timo announced a strategic partnership with Viet Capital Bank, replacing VPBank as its bank partner.
