Fintech for Creator Platform UpBanx Secures 74 Billion Rupiah Funding, Claiming Centaur Valuation in Its First Year

The fintech platform UpBanx, which aims to develop a digital banking platform for creators (or influencers) and brands, announced a pre-seed funding of $5.2 million or around 74 billion Rupiah, claiming a valuation of $120 million (centaur) within only 6 months of operation or 1 official month. The service alone is yet to accessible for public.

The current funding was participated by Y Combinator, Alpha JWC Ventures, Alto Partners Multi-Family Office, Number Capital, UBI Capital, Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, the creator network of Collab Asia and DRM (Digital Chain Maya), and a number of well-known angel investors.

It is also listed in the ranks of these angel investors, Melvin Hade (GFC Partner), Hendra Kwik (CEO of Fazz Financial), Hendoko Kwik (CEO of Modal Rakyat), Budi Handoko (CEO of Shipper), and Arya Setiadharma (CEO of Prasetia Dwidharma).

UpBanx was founded by Wafa Taftazani (ex-Googler and Co-Founder of Modal Rakyat), Hendri Wijaya, and Alif Jafar Fatkhurrohman. The company is part of the prestigious Y Combinator incubator batch W22 .

The CEO, Wafa Taftazani said, "We built UpBanx as an integrated platform for the creator economy and beyond. Apart from providing financial solutions, we will also facilitate seamless collaboration between creators and brands. In the near future, we will also act as a Web3 launch platform for creators. and brands, to help support fan engagement in new, innovative ways."

UpBanx will be available in 2022. The concept is somewhat different from most digital banking. In order to join, participants must be creators on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. The curation criteria is yet to announce by the platform.

UpBanx will later use a banking license owned by BPR Sentral Mandiri and supported by Fazz Financial's fintech ecosystem, including Modal Rakyat and Cashfazz.

There are not many digital banking platforms that specifically target niche markets. Previously, Hijra from Alami was also projected to be the first Islamic digital bank.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian