Indonesian Wholesale Marketplace Ula Secures $10.5M In Seed Funding

Indonesian wholesale eCommerce market Ula has announced that it has secured $10.5 million in a new seed funding round, according to an e27 report.

The round was led by Sequoia India and Lightspeed India. OSMDV, Quona Capital, Saison Capital, Alter Global and other unnamed investors participated.

Ula, launched in January this year, aims to help small store owners boost their income through its multi-category wholesale eCommerce platform, along with perks such as a large products list, prices, doorstep delivery and pay later options. Right now, the company is primarily focused on daily needs and consumer goods as traditional means of buying these items might be impacted by the pandemic.

The company was formed by Nipul Mehra, who is a former FlipKart senior director of retail and a former investor at Sequoia India.

Ula will use the money to expand outside its Java Island location, add new categories like apparel and electronics to be introduced later on, and hire new teams of tech workers from Singapore, Indonesia and India.

Abheek Anand, managing director at Sequoia India, said the investment made sense because of the often troubled and inefficient supply chain in emerging markets like Indonesia’s. In the report, he called Ula an “easy, affordable and scalable” solution to help retailers do business in more efficient ways.

Ula Co-Founder Riky Tenggara said the company’s goal is to aid small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in streamlining operations.

“For us, the true measure of Ula’s success will be in how much we can improve our customer’s lives and businesses,” he said, according to the report. “Our collective vision is to revolutionize [SMB] trade using technology, helping increase their efficiency and providing them with tools to conduct their business seamlessly and more profitably.”

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are looking forward to more connected economic victories, such as open banking, which would improve the lives of many residents there who remain unbanked. Companies have plans there to connect financial institutions, FinTechs and third parties to boost banking opportunities, PYMNTS reported.