OnlinePajak Claims Unicorn Status, Is that How Big the Market Size?

Tax management focused SaaS startup for business "OnlinePajak" claim its "unicorn" status. It was directly mentioned by the executives at a media meeting, as quoted by Katadata.

Previously, news about the unicorn status emerged from CBInsights. However, it is known that currently (14/10) CBInsights has removed the name OnlinePajak from the list.

We have tried to ask related parties on this matter to the company, including the company's latest funding round [if any]. Until this publication, we have received no feedback. We tried asking one of the investors, however, there's no comment on the unicorn status.

Based on data submitted to the regulator, OnlinePajak's last funding round was the Series C round in July 2021. Tencent and a series of investors poured around $12 million, raise the company's valuation to $179 million -- 1/10th of what it claims to be a unicorn startup.

The company's also backed by popular investors such as Alpha JWC Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Endeavor Catalyst, and several others.

We actually have included OnlinePajak on the Centaur list since last year, which marks the company's milestone reaching a valuation of over $100 million.

OnlinePajak service

Currently, OnlinePajak services are divided into three main product categories: Invoice, Payroll, and Others. In the Invoice sub-service, there are various features such as calculating/depositing/reporting VAT and PPh, making withholding books, invoices, NPWP validation, and others.

While Payroll includes payroll features, PPh 21 tax, salary calculations, and slips. While in the Other category, there are channels for payment, reporting, including for personal taxes. Currently they also operate the TaxPay service to facilitate the tax payment process.

In order to facilitate users, in addition to portals on the web, OnlinePajak presents an application on Android which has been downloaded by around 10 thousand+ users with 3.7 rating. Another application that also helps accommodate tax needs is HiPajak, on Google Play the platform has been downloaded by 50 thousand+ users and gets the same rating.

Another innovation launched by local startups to make it easier for businesses and individuals to manage taxes is Pajak.io. Its main service is based on a chatbot called "Bee-Jak", ready to answer and assist various complaints regarding tax reporting and payment. Meanwhile, other SaaS services that focus on HR and Payroll also generally have the capability to perform tax calculations, such as those provided by Catapa, Fast-8, and Mekari.

Statistics comparison of OnlinePajak and KlikPajak by Mekari / SimilarWeb

Market size

Based on data compiled by Fortune Business Insight, the market size of tax management software has reached $5.24 billion in 2018 globally. The number is projected to increase to $11.19 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 10.4%.

Basically the nature of the service helps businesses or companies to do tax management. However, in Indonesia likewise, all processes can actually be done independently. Even among corporations, they usually have a special consultant who focuses on tax advocacy.

The MSME segment may be the main target, although the government the tax collection process considered this circle has received "privileges", both in terms of a simple process and a relatively lower value. According to data from the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance in 2019, the final income tax contribution of MSMEs was only around Rp7.5 trillion or around 1.1% of the total PPh in the same year at Rp711.2 trillion.

In order to overcome this, several applications that focus on recording MSME finances also feature a tax calculation function. Even the KemenkopUKM also presents the LAMIKRO application that can be used and downloaded for free.

OnlinePajak unicorn status

With the size of the market [specifically on tax calculation software], it is actually interesting to know OnlinePajak's current valuation has reached $1 billion. As its business model accommodates a fairly niche market. However, it has the potential to target a wider product segment starting from the pain point around taxes – to being an end-to-end SaaS for businesses.

In general note, for OnlinePajak's business line (tax payment), the company has appointed Mulia Dewi as CEO. While the Founder Charles Guinot currently serves as Group CEO. It is possible that there is a wider service segment the company is currently preparing to reach potential for a larger market share.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian