1. Startups

Startup EWA Gajiku Receives Initial Funding of 16 Billion Rupiah

This round was led by AC Ventures, with participation from Agung Ventures, Monk's Hill Ventures Scouts Program, Sampoerna, and several angel investors.

Startups earned wage access (EWA) and HR platform Gajiku announced the acquisition of an early-stage investment of $1,1 million (approximately 16 billion Rupiah). This round was led by AC Ventures, with participation from Agung Ventures, Monk's Hill Ventures Scouts Program, Sampoerna, and several angel investors Indonesia.

The fresh funds will be used for product development, driving sales and business development to bring in new users, focus on large companies, and increase the number of employees across all functions.

This startup was founded in January 2021 by a number of founder, including Sherman Tanuwidjaja (CEO), with deep experience in developing technology focused HR solutions for large clients including Temasek; and Herry Gunawan (CTO), who previously served as Head of Engineering at Ruangguru and Lead Engineer at Tokopedia.

My Salary Platform

Gajiku is a payroll and employee management solution provider that enables employees to access on-demand payroll through an employer-centric approach. Gajiku offers a complete suite of employee management processes for attendance, payroll disbursement and KPI tracking, helping employers digitize their human capital and accounting operations.

Companies generally work with large corporations, such as large retail and manufacturing companies with an average of more than 1.500 employees per company. 90% of employees registered at Gajiku transact at least once a month through partnerships with conglomerates and Indonesian companies.

My salary is typically used by labor-intensive companies that employ thousands of blue-collar workers, most of whom are considered unbanked and may work in informal settings. Low financial literacy among Indonesian blue-collar workers has made them particularly vulnerable to loan sharks and other predatory lenders.

These workers are likely to live paycheck to paycheck or are likely to disappear from the workplace due to immense financial stress. By offering Gajiku's on-demand payroll services, employers can provide a lifesaver for employees, helping them relieve financial stress and reduce employee turnover.

By combining access to earned wages with human resources and financial services, Gajiku is able to provide a complete range of services that increase business efficiency, reduce employee turnover, and provide financial well-being for the Indonesian working class.

“Indonesia's blue-collar workforce has enormous potential, if assisted with the right tools and opportunities to develop. With more and more businesses seeing Indonesia as part of the global supply chain, we are working with employers to improve employee management, while ensuring that their employees are in the best financial position to succeed,” said Gajiku Co-founder and CEO Sherman Tanuwidjaja in a statement. official, Thursday (27/1).

AC Ventures Managing Partner Adrian Li added, given that Indonesian workers often sign informal agreements, employee management is a top priority for businesses in increasing efficiency and reducing turnover.

He believes that Gajiku's company-centric approach will enable employers to positively impact the majority of employees through access to early wages (EWA) and other financial services possibilities. “We are very excited to support the Gajiku team as they change the way they enter, which is a big price for managing their employees in Indonesia,” said Li.

Factors driving the presence of EWA

In Indonesia itself, there are already several startups that specifically provide EWA solutions. They are GajiGesa, gigacover, wagely, KoinGaji (from KoinWorks), and HaloGaji (from Halofina). The presence of EWA is an adoption of similar solutions that have previously been present in developed countries.

The driving factor, because money is the main source of stress factors in Indonesia, quoting from Health Living Index published by AIA. Household finances cause Indonesians more stress than work, relationships, or even their physical health.

Another global survey conducted by PwC in 2019 found that 67% of workers reported struggling with financial stress, meaning more than two-thirds of the working population are prone to migraines, depression and anxiety. Many studies highlight the effects of employee financial stress on business performance.

According to PwC, workers spend three or more hours per week focusing on financial matters rather than their work. Of the employees who reported financial stress, 12% lost their jobs because of the problem, and 31% felt their productivity was affected. One in three workers admit to being less productive at work because of financial stress.

PwC estimates that for a company with 10.000 workers, all these problems related to financial stress could cost up to $3,3 million in one year.

In Indonesia itself, lower middle class workers still dominate the working class. The World Bank noted that out of a total of 85 million income recipients, which include employees, casual workers, and self-employed, only 13 million workers or 15% have enough income to support middle class living with four family members.

Of that group, only 3,5 million or 4% of workers with middle-class income while enjoying full social benefits and having permanent employee status.

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