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Indonesia 's 5 month old startup Ula raises 10.5 million dollars for the wholesale eCommerce business
Indonesia's 5-month-old start-up Ula has today raised $10.5 million in a new funding round to expand its business in the southeasterly markets to help small retailers resolved inadequacies they face in supply chain, inventory and working capital ..
Sequoia India and Lightspeed India led the seed round. Ula said that SMDV, Quona Money, Money Season, Alter Global and a group of prominent angels including the founding team of Udaan, headquartered in Bangalore, took part in the event.
In January this year, the Jakarta start-up runs a wholesale e-commerce market to help shop owners stock up their inventory only, while also providing them with working capital.
Ula operates in Indonesia today, where mainstream retail, like other Asian markets, still constitutes the vast majority of the country's retail sales. Such shopkeepers, many operated by families, are able to operate their companies cost-effectively. However, they are struggling with access to working capital and inventories.
"And when they don't need such large quantities a grocery store will need to stock up on up to 50 different sources (whoe / distributors) a week and often buy in bulk to get better prices," said Derry Sakti, co-founder of Ula.
Ula, now in private beta, uses data science to provide retailers with working capital credit.
As more small and medium-sized enterprises in Indonesia start technology, abheek Anand, Managing Director Sequoia Capital, said that platforms such as Ula could help to rationalize their businesses.
"Ula has an experienced team with a high degree of experience in e-commerce, retail and Fintech, both in the local and global sector, and we are very excited to be early partners in the journey," he said.
Ula has said its company has increased ten times since its launch and some customers have returned to buy considerably more without revealing exact figures. In May in a global pandemic, shops bought more than at the beginning of this year, according to the startup.
The startup plans to use fresh capital to expand the inventory of services in other categories, including appliances and electronics, across Indonesia over the next year.
"What we can do to improve our customers' lives and business would be a real indicator of the success of Ula. Our collective vision is to revolutionize the SMB trade with technology, help them to make their business more effective and provide tools to operate seamlessly and profitably, "says Ula's co-founder Riky Tenggara.
