Brick bags seed funding from Antler

Indonesia: Brick, an Indonesia-based fintech API provider, has secured seed funding from a slew of investors, including US-based Better Tomorrow Ventures and PT Prasetia Dwidharma.

Brick will use the funds to scale its platform, increase coverage and expand to markets within Southeast Asia. The company also plans to launch new APIs for telcos, mobile wallets, e-commerce platforms, and payment initiation products.

Launched in 2020 by Gavin Tan (CEO) and Deepak Malhotra (CTO), Brick’s fintech APIs allow users of client companies to connect their financial accounts and access different financial services. The company claims it is compatible with more than 90 percent of “adult bank accounts” in Indonesia and is currently working with more than 250 developers hailing from 35 tech companies.

“We experienced first-hand the lack of modern infrastructure needed to deliver fintech experiences that customers are demanding. That is why we started Brick to power the next generation of fintech companies with easy to implement, cost-effective, and inclusive fintech infrastructure,” said Tan.

“We are still in the early stages of fintech innovation in Southeast Asia and it cannot exist without good data infrastructure. Tech companies in Southeast Asia still do not have easy access to financial APIs. We’ve seen first-hand the fintech innovations that are enabled by creating financial APIs and are excited to back Brick, our first SEA investment,” shared Sheel Mohnot, General Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures.

Brick noted the high demand, coupled with strong regulatory support from Indonesia’s regulators, makes Indonesia an ideal market for its services. Central bank, Bank Indonesia, released a set of open banking API standards in 2020, paving the way for the adoption of embedded finance.

The company is also part of BRI Ventures’s Sembrani Wira accelerator program, where it will work with the bank to co-create an “innovative and inclusive” fintech infrastructure.