JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Ula, an Indonesia-based marketplace app for small retailers, has raised Series A funding US$20 million led by Quona Capital and B Capital Group together with the existing investors, Lightspeed India, and Sequoia Capital India. Last year, Quona was also a key participant in the startup seed round of $10.5 million.
Nipun Mehra, the co-founder, said in an official statement, the Series A funding will be used to maximize the company’ future expansion plans. It said, the new funding will allow the tech firm to grow its geographical footprint, expand its suite of products and services, and move into new categories.
Since launching in January 2020 with teams in Indonesia, India, and Singapore, Ula claims have served over 20,000 stores, primarily in East Java. The company current focus is on “daily needs” consumer goods and staples.
“Ula has transformed the entire retail value chain with a retailer-first approach, empowering small retailers by offering a wide selection of products, at competitive prices and doorstep delivery services,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, managing partner of Quona Capital.
In the next four years, Indonesian retail spending is expected to exceed US$500 billion driven mostly by millions of small retailers. While, in most emerging markets, traditional physical stores account for nearly 80 percent of the total retail market. In Indonesia, this figure is estimated around $250 billion with a growth rate of $15 billion per year.
According to official data, total funding to Indonesian startups reached $1.9 billion until the third quarter (3Q) of 2020 with 52 transactions. In 2019, the total funding was recorded $2.9 billion, higher than 2018 amounting to $1.4 billion.
“If it can grow by around $2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, (the amount) is still less than 2019. The decline was caused by the funding cycle. Apart from the pandemic, the same thing happened throughout 2020,” sad vice chairman the Indonesian Venture and Startup Capital Association, William Gozali, last year.
He continued, there are still plenty of room for venture capital companies to grow with startups in Indonesia. Although the transaction values decreased, he assured, that the number of transactions continued to increase.
The organization data also showed, until end of September, most of the funding goes for financial technology firm, with total eight transactions. Followed by funding for education technology with six transactions. The software as a service sector also with six transactions, the new retail sector five transactions, the logistics sector and e-commerce for 4 transactions, respectively.
“We see there are optimism in the midst of a pandemic that Indonesian startups are still have a window to the funding. Its encouraging that this industry is still positive at a macro level. Even if there is a decline, it is more of a delay,” he adds.
The organization also noted that the top funding value for the six startups was still quite large, in the range of $20 million to $109 million. In the first place, the restaurant-chain operator, Kopi Kenanga worth of$109 million, Cargo Technology $31 million, and Gudang Ada amounting to $25.4 billion.
Then, peer to peer lending operator, Investree, was recorded to received funding of $23.5 million and Koinworks worth of $20 million. The last one is funding to Shipper of $20 million.
Written by Editorial Staff, Email: theinsiderstories@gmail.com
