Indonesian mobile money start-up Pundi-Pundi detailed plans to grow its range of services and establish a base for expansion into other Southeast Asia markets, after securing $4 million in pre-Series A funding.

The company said a major publicly listed Chinese technology company was among the investors in the financing round. Pundi-Pundi will use the funds to expand the number of merchants on its books in Indonesian capital city Jakarta, and to provide a micro-loan service.

Pundi-Pundi was established in January, and opened for service in February backed by $2 million in angel investment. To date, it established partnerships with over 500 merchants, shops and canteens, and built a daily user base of 20,000 Android and iOS smartphone users.

In a statement announcing the pre-Series A funding, the company said its goal is to help deliver a cashless society in Indonesia, a market where it notes less than 30 per cent of the population have a debit card. It cited China-based Alipay’s QR code-based mobile payment system as a model example of the kind of service it aims to deliver.

“Pundi-Pundi offers an easier solution to the tens of millions of people in Southeast Asia that have limited access to cash. Our app also allows users from all socio-economic backgrounds to benefit from micro-loans, improving the lives of everybody in the society, not only the more affluent,” co-founder Danny Lim said.

The company plans to expand into Singapore and Malaysia in early 2018, followed by Thailand and Vietnam in H2 2018.