Indonesian quick commerce firm Astro bags US$60m to boost CX

Indonesia-based quick commerce start-up Astro has raised US$60 million in Series B to continue its mission to make people’s life simpler and easier by developing a modern, on-demand platform. The funds raised will be used to reach more customers and enrich product capabilities to provide an even better customer experience, as well as to expand the team size in 2022.

The new round led by Accel, Citius, and Tiger Global brings the total investment to more than US$90 million since Astro started in September 2021. Existing investors, AC Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Lightspeed, and Sequoia Capital India also participated in the round.

In February this year, Astro raised US$27 million in Series A to expand its reach and serve more customers across Indonesia as well as to expand the team size by threefold in 2022. Astro’s 15-minutes delivery service is currently operating in nearly 50 locations across Jakarta Broader Metro Area.

Since the last round of Series A, the company said its revenue has grown more than 10 times as well as achieving much higher efficiency to deliver to customers. The team has also grown significantly with more than 200 people, whom it refers to internally as Astronauts while enabling work from anywhere to accommodate flexibility during this COVID-19 environment.

Vincent Tjendra, Astro's co-founder and CEO, said its mission at Astro is to make people’s lives simpler and easier. "Our Astronauts have continuously served customers when they need us the most, especially during the last Omicron COVID-19 spike when Indonesia experienced an unprecedented number of cases. We are excited to partner with Accel, Citius, and Tiger Global to accelerate our meaningful mission," he said.

Tjendra added that it will continuously focus on building a great company with great talents across Indonesia and delivering a great customer experience. Astro has also started collaborating with local businesses to launch its private label. The initial launch included coffees and bread, with seasonal treats such as sweet cakes and desserts in previous Ramadan.

This initiative is an extension of Astro’s initial effort to collaborate with local farmers to have closer access to customers by providing its hydroponic and fresh fruits, and vegetable selections within 15 minutes. According to Astro, the pandemic has driven digital adoption and this poses a large opportunity for the e-grocery sector in Indonesia.