Heaptalk, Jakarta — The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) social commerce platform, KitaBeli, has closed its Series B funding round worth US$20 million (7/18). The new injection will be allocated to enhance the presence of KitaBeli’s products category and expand its business reach to many regions in Indonesia.
The latest investment was led by Glade Brook Capital Partners and supported by existing investors, including AC Ventures and GoVentures. The new KitaBeli investor has also participated in this round, namely InnoVen Capital.
KitaBeli is a social commerce platform that offers FMCG products and allows users to earn income by leveraging their social networks. The apps enable consumers to relish discounted prices through gamification and social shopping experience. This FMGC platform also manages a direct-to-consumer social commerce business model that offers buyers the staples of daily life.
Co-Founder, and CEO of KitaBeli, Prateek Chaturvedi, stated, “Glade Brook is one of the most seasoned growth stage investors we have met. We have also been delighted for Go-Ventures and AC Ventures’ support with its regional expertise to accelerate our growth,”
“The team had achieved product-market fit for an untapped market. In addition, we have reached thousands of our online-based new users. This accomplishment has supported us to build massive loyalty with our customers and deliver better long-term margins than other players through leveraging the offline social networks of our partners,” Prateek added.
A timely expansion in a historically untapped market
KitaBeli has expanded timely as Indonesia’s second and third-tier cities, now representing over $100 billion and generating over 200 million customer contributions to 50% of Indonesia’s GDP. As a result, this social commerce app aims to focus on reaching outside of Indonesia’s central business hub in Jakarta and overcome numerous existing dilemmas around the second and third-tier cities.
The company has observed many customers frequently experience a long delivery duration for online shopping. As a part of its support, KitaBeli has addressed this issue by opening warehouses in every city, allowing the same-day and next-day delivery services.
Further, city-dwellers outside the nation’s capital also routinely face higher prices as the complexity of supply chains. In effect, consumers are required to pay more overpriced, around 10% – 50%, compared to the Jakarta-based society. By obtaining direct products of brands and principals, the KitaBeli platform can grant huge savings for customers.
The company also intends to handle trust issues in the second and third-tier society by implementing a unique strategy, namely focusing on offline-based networks and encouraging them to pursue their relatives to operate the KitaBeli platform.
Responding to this investment, the Partners of Glade Brook Capital Partners, Linda Guo, stated, “We are excited to partner with KitaBeli to deliver more affordable e-commerce access to second-tier communities in Indonesia. We also believe the next wave of e-commerce growth in Indonesia will be driven by consumer demand outside Jakarta.
“Our support to KitaBeli has reinforced our thesis that the coming e-commerce users will appear from second and third-tier cities in Indonesia. This social commerce app has focused on creating the best solution aligned with rural people’s requisites. Kitabeli’s product-led approach and operational excellence have also demonstrated effective customer engagement, robust top-line growth, and promising acceptance rate expansion. We are excited to be a part of KitaBeli’s journey,” stated Adrian Li, Founder and Managing Partner of AC Ventures.
KitaBeli has grown over tenfold in six months as Indonesia’s largest direct-to-consumer social commerce platform. The new funding will enable KitaBeli to further broaden its reach into second and third-tier cities across the archipelago while also establishing the latest product categories, including mother and baby products, beauty products, personal care, and frozen food products. (SFM)
