Indonesian e-commerce company Ula accelerates expansion with $20 million in Series B funding

According to foreign media reports, on April 6 , Indonesian B2B e-commerce platform Ula recently completed a US$20 million Series B financing round, led by Quona Capital.

It is reported that Ula was established in 2019 as a B2B e-commerce platform in Indonesia, committed to providing data-driven working capital solutions through its market products .

Ula focuses on procurement and supply chain procedures in the fields of fast-moving consumer goods, clothing and electronics. It provides small retailers with affordable, rich and timely online sourcing services through mobile platforms , and provides flexible payment methods, thereby increasing the income of small retailers.

It has about 20,000 retailers on its platform , with an initial base in East Java and operations in Indonesia, Singapore and India. Founded by former employees of Flipkart , Amazon and aCommerce , the company aims to help small retailers solve the inefficiencies they face in supply chain, inventory and working capital.

Ula received a record-breaking $10.5 million seed round of financing from Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed in June 2020. In January this year, Ula announced that it had raised $20 million in a Series A financing round co-led by Quona Capital and B Capital Group. Existing investors Lightspeed and Sequoia India also participated in this round of investment.

Ula also provides working capital to these small retailers so they don’t have to wait for customers to pay for new batches of inventory.

This is a tough challenge faced by small retailers in Asia , where these stores have strong ties to their customers, so they often sell goods without upfront payment and collect that money, which often takes longer than necessary.

Indonesia has a $380 billion retail market, accounting for around 35% of GDP in 2019.

Kabir Narang, founding partner of B Capital Group, said that in the next four years, retail sales from Indonesia's millions of small stores are expected to exceed US$0.5 trillion.

Ula has become a major force in driving supply chain transformation for Indonesian SMEs by democratizing commodity products and promoting inclusive finance through technology.

India

E-commerce

Financing