A technology startup for traditional retail digitization, Ula comes up with $20 million (over 282 billion Rupiah) Series A funding led by Quona Capital and B Capital Group. Participated also Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India as the previous investors.
The company aims to expand its team and location through this funding, therefore, more small retailers can be digitized through Ula technology. In addition, Ula will expand the product category to fashion and electronics, and reaching out to retailers selling FMCG and vegetable products.
Ula has closed $10 million in seed funding in June last year. This round involved SMDV, Quona Capital, Saison Capital, and Alter Global. Several angel investors also participated, including Patrick Walujo, Willy Arifin, Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, Rohan Monga, and Rahul Mehta.
Quoting from TechCrunch, Quona Capital Managing Partner Ganesh Rengaswamy said, “If you look at the entire retail value chain, especially essential products, such as FMCG, staples and fresh products, it is very fragmented. In fact, the market has developed in terms of consolidation, demand, and supply in a more efficient way.”
He continued, “Ula is trying to repeat the retail distribution ecosystem with a significant technology overlay. Ula connects some of the biggest players on the supply side to the smallest retailers and consumers.”
Ula provides working capital for micro-retailers, who usually operate in small shops on their home page. This way, they don’t have to wait for payment by customers to restock. The company recognizes that this is a serious challenge for micro-retailers in Asia.
These micro-business owners generally have strong bonds with their customers, they often selling goods without upfront payment. Meanwhile, collecting these payments often takes longer than expected.
“Frictionless payments and offering credit to retailers for more efficient cash flow management is an essential component of modern digital commerce,” Rengaswamy said.
Ula was founded by former Indian Flipkart officials Nipun Mehra, and Derry Sakti, who started his career at P&G in Indonesia, in January 2020. Mehra said that most of the Indonesian retail market is unorganized, similar to India.
In the vegetable category, for example, farmers often sell to middlemen, then arrived in the market. “From the market, supplies go to small wholesalers and so on. There are many players in this chain,” he said.
Over the past year, the company is claimed to serve more than 20 thousand stores. Ula first operated in Surabaya and expanding its presence quickly throughout East Java and Semarang.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
