wagely, an earned wage access (EWA) provider based in Indonesia and Bangladesh, has raised $23 million in a fresh funding round, the company said on Monday. The investment comprises a mix of equity and debt financing, anchored by Capria Ventures which led the equity portion.
The round is supplemented by a substantial investment from a prominent private debt fund, with the aim of expanding wagely’s core EWA service in Indonesia and Bangladesh, according to the announcement.
Founded in 2020, wagely allows workers to access their pay after each workday. The service is provided at no cost to employers, who can offer it as an optional benefit to their workforce. wagely also helps users to track their salary and access financial education resources.
About 75% of Indonesia and Bangladesh’s nearly 195 million workers face financial difficulties, relying solely on their pay cheques to cover expenses. Without access to traditional financial services, many lack essential tools and support to enhance their financial health.
The company says it has surpassed more than one million salary disbursements since inception. In 2023 alone, wagely disbursed over $25 million in salaries, processing close to one million transactions and being accessible by 500,000 workers.
“The wagely team has demonstrated excellent execution with impressive growth in providing a sustainable and win-win financial solution for underserved blue-collar workers and employers,” said Dave Richards, Managing Partner, Capria Ventures.
“We see a huge opportunity for wagely to apply Generative AI across multiple use cases, such as automated document processing and local language conversational interfaces for workers to make better financial decisions,” he continued.
Capria Ventures is a Global South specialist venture capital firm investing in applied Generative AI. In Indonesia, the firm also backs fintech company ALAMI and agritech startup EdenFarm.
EWA platforms started to gain traction and investors interest in Southeast Asia in 2020, with the mushrooming of a host of startups that went on to quickly gather funding to meet the growing demand for their services. Companies offering EWA services in the region include GajiGesa in Indonesia, Gimo in Vietnam, and SalaryHero in Thailand.