KitaBeli team
KitaBeli, a consumer-facing social commerce platform based in Indonesia, announced today it has closed its Series A funding at US$10 million, led by Go-Ventures with participation from existing investors AC Ventures and East Ventures.
This comes about seven months after the startup secured a seed round led by East Ventures.
“We launched KitaBeli in Jakarta in March 2020 and have expanded to Solo and Malang, both tier 2 cities in Indonesia where we’ve seen strong growth. We shall be using the funds from this round to expand operations deeper into Java, developing a secure and efficient logistics network,” he said Prateek Chaturvedi, CEO and co-founder, KitaBeli.
“On the product side, we shall focus on building a more interactive and user-friendly, mobile-first shopping experience for our customers,” he added.
Also Read: KitaBeli raises seed investment to enable group buying for Indonesian FMCG customers
KitaBeli offers a mobile app that enables users to buy daily essentials, ranging from fast-moving consumer goods, fresh produce, beauty, electronics and other household items. By sharing information with their friends and neighbours, users can unlock discounts and benefit from lower prices for daily essential items.
In addition to lower prices, users enjoy free shipping, one-day delivery, daily deals and 24×7 online support.
Unlike other social commerce models that utilise agents to sell in their communities, KitaBeli’s users place orders directly on its platform.
Since its launch, KitaBeli claims to have seen a “strong growth of over 80 per cent month on month”, with a low cost per install rate of US$0.10. Currently, its users spend an average of US$70 per month on the platform. This translates to a wallet share of 35 per cent in the product categories available on KitaBeli, it said.
KitaBeli has implemented a partner-based delivery network, where individuals within the community earn commissions for performing last-mile delivery of ordered items.
Over time, the platform aims to connect suppliers and farmers to tens of millions of consumers in tier 2-4 cities across Indonesia.
“At KitaBeli, we empower our delivery partners to fulfil more than 100 orders per day and earn a substantial amount that supplements their family’s income. Community fulfilment is critical in establishing an efficient logistics chain, as well as delivering low- cost/ high quality products. We focus on providing high frequency items, such as FMCG and fresh produce — items that home-makers use on a daily basis. We plan to expand into beauty, fashion and electronics to build out higher SKU coverage,” said Ivana Tjandra, co-founder and COO of KitaBeli.
Also Read: RateS snags Series A to expand social commerce platform to tier 2, 3 cities in Indonesia
“E-commerce penetration beyond the large metros has remained low, predominantly because of lack of trust, poor product availability, and high logistics costs. Kitabeli is well-positioned to address these challenges through the social nature of its product, accelerating online shopping for a new generation of users and bringing the benefits of e-commerce to a wider population across Indonesia,” said Aditya Kumar, SVP of Investments, Go-Ventures.
“Online shopping can be enhanced through a social experience that traditional e-commerce platforms have yet to incorporate. KitaBeli enables this by creating trust through product-sharing from friends and family, that in turn creates a virtuous cycle of virality. This model also drives cost effective growth in rural Indonesia through its scalable user acquisition strategy,” said Adrian Li, Managing Partner from AC Ventures.
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Image Credit: KitaBeli
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