Today’s McKinsey on Startups guest is Yada Piyajomkwan, cofounder and Chief Product Officer of Indonesian digital investing unicorn Ajaib. It was only a few years ago that Yada and her fellow Stanford MBA, Anderson Sumarli (now CEO), launched Ajaib with the goal of bringing investing to the masses in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country. Until recently, stock and mutual fund investing there were primarily reserved for a very small elite, roughly 1 to 2 percent of the entire population of some 280 million. It hasn’t taken long for Ajaib’s new approach to investing to take off. By focusing on financial literacy and investing education, Ajaib has quickly developed a growing following of more than one million investors who are drawn to its simple and affordable platform. The company has already raised more than $200 million in Series A and B rounds, and by some metrics is the fastest-growing unicorn in Southeast Asia.

<p>Today’s <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/mckinsey-on-startups">McKinsey on Startups</a> guest is Yada Piyajomkwan, cofounder and Chief Product Officer of Indonesian digital investing unicorn Ajaib. It was only a few years ago that Yada and her fellow Stanford MBA, <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/person/anderson-sumarli">Anderson Sumarli</a> (now CEO), launched Ajaib with the goal of bringing investing to the masses in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country. Until recently, stock and mutual fund investing there were primarily reserved for a very small elite, roughly 1 to 2 percent of the entire population of some 280 million. It hasn’t taken long for Ajaib’s new approach to investing to take off. By focusing on financial literacy and investing education, Ajaib has quickly developed a growing following of more than one million investors who are drawn to its simple and affordable platform. The company has already raised more than $200 million in Series A and B rounds, and by some metrics is the fastest-growing unicorn in Southeast Asia.</p>

McKinsey on Start-ups is an original podcast series from Fuel, McKinsey’s startup practice. In each episode, our experts cut through the noise to help startups and investors accelerate growth. We feature conversations with founders/leaders, investors, and industry experts to share the latest perspective across borders and sectors.

McKinsey on Start-ups

Despite being the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia has traditionally had a very small number of retail investors. Fintech unicorn Ajaib is out to change that, and so far its bet appears to be paying off.

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