Warung Pintar Raises $27.5M In Funding

Warung Pintar, a startup in Southeast Asia aiming to help traditional merchants digitize their businesses, has raised $27.5 million in funding.

According to a report in TechCrunch citing the 18-month-old company, Warung Pintar exclusively caters to local merchants. It competes against Bukalapak, a leading startup in Indonesia that is helping street stall traders access the internet. Bukalapak has started catering to local merchants that sell products on the side of the road in direct competition with Warung Pintar. TechCrunch noted that Warung Pintar has an edge with the roadside vendors because all of its vendors get a bright and colorful kiosk and get access to technology such as a digital point-of-sale terminals, free Wi-Fi and LCD screen for displays as well as power bank charges and other items in its smart kiosk concept.

Launched in 2017 by East Ventures, Warung Pintar has to date raised more than $35 million.

The latest Series B round included participation from existing investors SMDV, Vertex, Pavilion Capital, Line Ventures, Digital Garage, Agaeti, Triputra, Jerry Ng, and EV Growth — the joint fund from East Ventures and Yahoo. The investors were joined by OVO, a payment company that is owned by Lippo, an Indonesian conglomerate. OVO works with Grab and is trying to expand in the digital payments market in Indonesia.

TechCrunch reported that investors think Warung Pintar will explode in popularity and provide street vendors and consumers with more functionality. “There are going to be a lot of ways to charge and make money,” East Ventures Co-Founder and Managing Partner Willson Cuaca told TechCrunch in an interview. “Once we have built enough, we can manage the supply chain and then figure out of how to make money.”

TechCrunch noted that less than a year ago Warung Pintar just completed a seed round of funding and today has 1,150 kiosks in Jakarta. It recently expanded in Banyuwangi, East Java. The goal is to increase its market reach to 5,000 kiosks before the end of 2019.