Ula announced an additional $23.1 million (over 328 billion Rupiah) of its Series B round around one month ago. This follow-on funding was led by Tiger Global and Flipkart’s Co-founder, Binny Bansal, bringing a total $110 million for this series B.
Previously, they had announced a series B funding of $87 billion led by Prosus Ventures, Tencent, and B Capital. Also participated in this round, Bezos Expeditions, VC created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; along with other leading investors, Northstar Group, AC Ventures, and Citius.
This additional fund has brought a total $140 million (more than 1.99 trillion Rupiah) in accumulation since the company’s establishment.
In the company’s official statement, this fresh fund is said to be the company’s ammo to develop buy now, pay later features and utilize AI to better serve MSME consumers. In addition, the company will continue to expand to new locations and recruit more special talents.
“This follow on funding in the Series B round signifies the interest of investors and their confidence in Ula’s vision and mission. We are grateful and excited for the opportunity to build a platform that doesn’t only empower traditional retailers, but also reorganize the traditional retail industry. As we move forward, we will continue to take a customer-first approach to addressing fundamental issues with technology,” said Ula Co-founder & CEO Nipun Mehra, Tuesday (16/11).
Previously conveyed by Ula’s Co-founder & CCO, Derry Sakti, this BNPL solution was initiated since Ula already has 70 thousand stalls that transact through its platform, the database is a provision for credit scoring before disbursing loans.
It is said that the company has grown 230 times, offering more than 6 thousand products. The majority of Ula users come from tier two to four cities that still lack access to resources and logistics infrastructure.
In a general note, traditional retailers have limitations in accessing banking products, even though they are very dependent on daily income, it makes the paylater for supplier service has tremendous benefits for stalls.
“Using Ula, they no longer have to worry about purchasing goods, product availability, or even payment, which will give them more time to focus on other more important things. Seeing firsthand the impact that Ula has had on customers’ lives certainly moves our team to move forward,” he said.
The Ula app allows shop owners to order a wide variety of products and have them delivered directly to their stores. With a simple concept, Ula tries to focus on customer needs rather than adding unnecessary features, to ensure the best experience. This app is claimed to be lighter, suitable for low connection environments and the most basic devices, and ensures it doesn’t take up too much space on their phones.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
