Charting this little-known Indonesian startup’s rapid rise

More: Shein sets mammoth US$60b annual revenue target. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Daily Newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only Daily Newsletter and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} It is not uncommon to find ludicrous company valuations in both public and private markets. Usually, these absurd figures spell either trouble or opportunity. If the valuation is shockingly low, you buy. If it’s jaw-droppingly high, you don’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. There’s your 101 on investing. Investors in Cermati likely leaned closer to the former, pushing the little-known Indonesian startup’s valuation 10x higher to US$344 million following its series D round in the second quarter last year. The generous valuation bump does make some sense. For starters, since 2015, Cermati has seamlessly grown from a fintech aggregator to an all-around financial group with consumer lending and insurance services as well as a banking-as-a-service operation. Further bolstering investor optimism, the fintech firm logged a nearly 2x year-on-year growth in the book value of its “as-a-service” model last year, while both its insurance and consumer-financing businesses went a step further and more than doubled their book value over the same period. In today’s featured piece, my colleague, Budi, dissects how Cermati’s as-a-service model glues its core financial products together more efficiently and how embedded finance offerings across banking, pay-later services, and insurance have propelled the company into the spotlight. The premium story also explores the likely challenges the startup will face as it further digs its roots into the insurtech and buy now, pay later sectors in Indonesia. -- Shravanth P.S.: If you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding, [fill out this form]( to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [How Cermati’s valuation grew almost 10x in under 4 years]( The Indonesian company’s “as-a-service” model allows it to glue its core financial products together more efficiently. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [Sociolla CEO to step down]( Christopher Madiam, Sociolla’s co-founder and president, will take over as CEO. [Genomics could earn Indonesia $110b: East Ventures]( The VC firm has invested in startups focusing on genome sequencing such as Nalagenetics and Nusantics. [Shein targets $60b revenue by 2025 as IPO nears]( The Chinese fast-fashion giant also expects its GMV to hit US$80.6 billion in 2025, Financial Times reported. [Mapping Indonesia’s key healthtech players]( Healthtech funding deals in Indonesia doubled in 2021 and 2022 from six years earlier due to strong user growth. But can the firms monetize this? [Uber taps Tata Motors to onboard 25,000 EVs in India]( Tata Motors will begin delivering Xpres-T models to Uber’s fleet partners in batches this month. [Alibaba’s growth to accelerate from 2023, analysts predict]( Despite ongoing headwinds, analysts remain optimistic about the company’s long-term fundamentals and potential of its cloud business. ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here](. - [Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference 2023]( from May 16 to May 17 Tech in Asia’s Product Development Conference is back! 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