Indonesia’s wealth tech startup Bareksa, backed by listed tech giant Grab, is exploring a suite of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven products aimed at improving transparency and helping retail investors navigate volatile equity markets, including a stock signal application and an AI-assisted mutual fund product.
The Jakarta-based platform said it is currently developing an AI-powered stock signal feature that will provide guidance to users, though the product remains in the research stage and is targeted for release later this year.
The proposed feature is intended to offer credible and transparent information to retail investors amid concerns over stock manipulation and speculative trading in the Indonesian market, which have drawn scrutiny from global index provider MSCI.
“We want to provide transparent guidance to our customers so they have credible information to rely on,” Bareksa CEO Karaniya Dharmasaputra said during a media briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He added that AI-generated analysis could help reduce biases and offer investors an alternative reference point when making investment decisions.
The initiative comes at a time when Indonesia’s stock market has faced heightened scrutiny over market volatility and the influence of coordinated trading activities, which have often left retail investors exposed to sudden price swings.
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) declined about 10.6% between Feb. 11 and March 11 to around 7,389 rupiah apiece, after reaching a recent high of roughly 9,134 rupiah apiece on January 20.
By offering AI-generated signals, Bareksa hopes retail investors will rely less on speculation or online tips and instead use data-driven insights as a reference in their investment decisions.
The company said the development is still at an early stage as it continues to refine the product’s framework and address issues such as data quality and model accuracy before launching it to the public.
Bareksa is also working on an AI-assisted mutual fund product in collaboration with a Korean asset management partner and an AI technology firm, Quantit, and a local asset manager, STAR Asset Management.
The product combines portfolio management by human fund managers with AI-powered analytics designed to optimise asset allocation and improve performance.
Although the product was introduced in November 2025, the system is still undergoing extensive fine-tuning to ensure the strategy performs consistently before it is offered to investors.
“We have already developed the product, but we are still tweaking the model so it can deliver strong performance,” Dharmasaputra said.
Bareksa said the broader objective of the AI-based mutual fund is to simplify investing for retail clients by allowing technology to assist professional fund managers in making portfolio decisions.
The company expects such products to appeal to retail investors seeking better-performing investment instruments without having to actively manage their portfolios.
Explores crypto product
Beyond equities and mutual funds, Bareksa is also assessing opportunities in the cryptocurrency segment as digital assets move under the supervision of Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK). The company said it is exploring ways to serve crypto investors, particularly by offering guidance tools, though it does not plan to operate its own exchange.
Dharmasaputra noted that many of Bareksa’s users are younger investors who already hold crypto assets but still require credible references when making investment decisions.
Separately, he also said it remains open to strategic fundraising opportunities but emphasised that the company is currently operating sustainably and generating positive free cash flow since the end of last year, meaning any future capital raise would be aimed at accelerating strategic initiatives rather than funding operations. The company reached positive EBITDA in 2024 and is now targeting net profit.
Since its establishment in 2016, Bareksa has taken a relatively cautious approach to growth rather than expanding aggressively, Dharmasaputra said, a strategy that contrasts with some other wealthtech startups such as Ajaib.
Bareksa last raised external funding in 2021 through a Series C round from Grab in an undisclosed amount. Earlier, in 2020, Grab-backed e-wallet firm OVO acquired a stake in the company, while EMTEK-backed payment gateway provider DOKU invested in 2017.
Bareksa is among Indonesia’s earliest wealthtech startups and claims to offer more than 200 mutual fund products from 33 asset managers. The company also partners with the finance ministry as one of the distribution platforms for retail government bonds.
According to its latest data, retail investment activity on the Bareksa platform has grown significantly, with gold transactions rising 331% year on year, while stock transactions increased 271%. For stock trading services, Bareksa partners with brokerage firm Ciptadana Sekuritas.
