Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly injecting investment into Indonesian startup Ula. Let's get acquainted with him.
Previously, it was reported by Tech Crunch that e-commerce startup Ula received Series B funding of USD 87 million. This funding was from Prosus Ventures, Tencent and B Capital and Jeff Bezos also injected funds in this round.
Tech Crunch reported that Jeff Bezos agreed to participate in disbursing money through Bezos Expeditions. B Capital, Tencent and Prosus Ventures are positioned as co-leads.
What and who is Ula? As seen from Tech Crunch, Monday (4/10/2021) startup Ula was born in January 2020. Ula helps small retailers with supply chain solutions, inventory and working capital.
Startup Ula was founded by Nipun Mehra (a former Flipkart executive in India and a former partner at Sequoia Capital India), Alan Wong (formerly at Amazon), Derry Sakti (who oversaw the operations of consumer goods giant P&G in Indonesia), and Riky Southeast (formerly at Lazada and aCommerce).
The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be pushing Ula forward as the economy is being pushed to go digital. Ula made progress from already having 20,000 stores in a year. Investors began to look.
"Many retail markets in Indonesia are not regulated. For example in the food and vegetable sector, many farmers sell to agents, then they sell to the market. From this market, goods go to small wholesalers and so on. There are many players in the supply chain," Mehra told Tech Crunch. .
In June 2020, Ula received an injection of USD 10.5 million from Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed. In January 2021, Ula announced an investment injection of USD 20 million in a Series A investment round. The new investors entering were Quona Capital and B Capital Group.
"Ula is trying to overhaul the retail distribution ecosystem with significant technology. It connects some of the big supply side players with the smallest retailers and consumers," said Ganesh Rengaswamy, Managing Partner at Quona Capital.
Ula also provides space for MSMEs that operate from small shops as well as their homes. There is working capital so there is no waiting for consumer money for new production. In Asia, many SMEs are paid later by consumers, but collecting this money is a challenge as well.
"Uninterrupted payments and credit offerings for retailers, so they can manage finances more effectively, are an important part of modern digital commerce," Rengaswamy said.
Ula said he wanted to focus on Indonesia first, there was still a big opportunity. Retail spending is expected to reach USD 500 billion in 4 years, said Kabir Narang as Founding General Partner at B Capital Group. In addition to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), Ula will also enter the clothing and electronics sectors.
The latest news, of course, is this USD 87 million Series B funding. When the second richest person in the world Jeff Bezos glances at him, it means that this Indonesian startup has great potential in the future.
