B2B eCommerce marketplace Ula bags US$87m in funds, Jeff Bezos among investors

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Indonesian B2B eCommerce marketplace Ula has raised US$87 million in a Series B funding round, eight months after its Series A round in January. The fresh funds will be used to invest in growing Ula’s presence across Indonesia and exploring international expansion across Southeast Asia; adding new categories, expanding the buy-now-pay-later offering, as well as building new technology and a local supply chain and logistics infrastructure.

The latest round is co-led by Prosus Ventures, Tencent, and B-Capital. Joining them are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions, and leading Southeast Asian funds Northstar group, AC Ventures, and Citius. Existing investors such as Lightspeed India, Sequoia Capital India, Quona Capital, and Alter Global also participated in the funding. Ula also brought in investor and entrepreneur Pandu Sjahrir as an advisor to Ula. Ula’s previous fundings include a US$10.5 million seed round in June 2020 and an additional US$20 million Series A round in January 2021.

Nipun Mehra, CEO and co-founder at Ula, said that Ula's new investors come with global expertise and share the long-term mindset of the company. "We are grateful to them for believing in Ula’s mission and hope to learn from their experience re-imagining retail in other emerging markets,” he added. In response to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Riky Tenggara (pictured left), co-founder and COO of Ula said that it will combine its effort to give an excellent and reliable experience for its customers with brand-building activities, such as offline and online marketing campaigns, social media presence, and seasonal promotions.

According to Ula, the latest round of funding will strengthen its commitment to supporting underserved, traditional retailers, especially those in Tier Two to Tier Four cities, where access to resources and logistical infrastructure is much more challenging. During this difficult period, many business owners have successfully used Ula’s technology and solutions to keep their businesses running and their people safe.

Derry Sakti (pictured centre), co-founder and CCO at Ula, said that it is deliberately strengthening its presence, selection, and services in rural areas and hard-to-reach neighbourhoods, helping local retailers accelerate the recovery of their businesses. "With Ula, they no longer have to worry about sourcing, product availability, or even payments, which frees up their time to focus on other important things. Seeing the impact that we’re able to have in the lives of our customers is what drives our team,” he added.

Ula’s expanding base of retailers has also enabled it to leverage its relationships and market knowledge to offer a buy-now-pay-later option, which is expected to be a US$150 billion market in Indonesia. With many store owners being limited by their access to traditional banking services and relying on daily cash flow income, providing the option to pay for their supplies later can prove to be a game-changer.

Last month saw other Southeast Asian brands attain funding as well. Just last week, tech-enabled logistics company Ninja Van secured US$578 million in a Series E funding round. The funds will be allocated towards infrastructure and technology systems that will support a sustainable long-term cost structure and the quality and consistency of its operations. The funds will also be invested in Ninja Van's suite of micro-supply chain solutions to help Southeast Asian businesses optimise on eCommerce opportunities.

Last month also saw classified business Carousell Group secure an investment of US$100 million, which brought its valuation to US$1.1 billion. The funding, led by Korean private equity STIC Investments, will accelerate the company's leadership in the region, and enable Carousell to achieve its goal of redefining commerce for secondhand goods and automobiles in an increasingly digitally savvy, affluent, and sustainability-conscious region.

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