Cold Chain Startup "Coldspace" Pocketed Initial Funding of 56 Billion Rupiah

Startup provider of integrated cold chain solutions Coldspace, today (3/5) announced the completion of a $3,8 million (nearly 56 billion Rupiah) seed round led by Intudo Ventures, PT Adi Sarana Armada Tbk (ASSA), and agricultural conglomerate Triputra Group , with the participation of MKA and ITS.

"We appreciate investors' trust in Coldspace as we are building a service provider end-to-end cold chains the first in Indonesia to serve B2B and B2C customers. This enables businesses to grow quickly and achieve agility in their distribution coverage," said Coldspace Co-Founder and CEO Arnold Giovanni in an official statement.

Coldspace was founded in December 2022 by Arnold Giovanni (CEO), Ivan Liadi (Head of Business Development & Product), David Loei (Head of Sales), and Jan Sunaryanto (Head of Finance). Coldspace is here because currently Indonesia is still lacking a solution cold chains integrated.

The company offers cold storage and trucking facilities reefer through its own inventory and third-party aggregates marketplace from cold chain partners empowered through its technology, targeting B2B and B2C users.

Via platform marketplace, coldspace providing superior pricing schemes for customers, while increasing utilization for partners through matching supply and demand. Not only that, the company is building cold chain infrastructure to fill the gap to ensure overall product climate control through its own warehouses and fleet as an important link in the Indonesian cold chain.

As well as, providing solutions cold fulfillment designed to enable services quick commerce, via models hub-and-spoke which ensures fast delivery of temperature sensitive products.

Coldspace works with importers, exporters, distributors, food & beverage manufacturers, logistics companies and other businesses to provide transparent and efficient storage and transportation of temperature-sensitive products.

In the food & beverage category, Coldspace offers services to fisheries, meat & poultry producers, packaged food and beverages, sellers of milk, fruit and vegetables, and pharmaceutical products. With quality customer service as a primary emphasis, Coldspace also offers customers thoughtful service level agreements (SLAs) and product management services to ensure customer satisfaction.

Coldspace Developments

Cold chain solutions are in great demand in Indonesia. With Indonesia's tropical climate and archipelagic geography, the country experiences high levels of food loss and waste, as well as spoilage of temperature-sensitive cargo such as medicines and chemicals.

As Indonesia's middle class grows, there is a rapid increase in demand for pre-packaged food and beverages, which must be handled and stored in temperature-controlled facilities to maintain freshness and protect businesses from inventory loss.

Intudo Ventures Founding Partner Patrick Yip said, with increasing demand for fresh food, medicine and other temperature sensitive products, Indonesia often lacks the limited controlled infrastructure needed to prevent spoilage, which causes product waste and loss.

"By targeting fragmented and traditional spaces characterized by inefficiencies and gaps in service, Coldspace is building a seamless, end-to-end cold chain that ensures proper product handling while providing customers with technologically advanced tools to monitor and manage products across the supply chain, " he said.

ASSA CEO Prodjo Sunaryanto added that later Coldspace would synergize with other ASSA subsidiaries, starting from ASSA Logistik, Anteraja and Titipaja. This synergy allows all groups under it to provide services cold chains sustainable from first mile, last mile, end customer, and business.

"We were interested in investing in Coldspace to further integrate our cold chain solutions as well as the fact that even though they are just a startup, they are able to post healthy performance," said Prodjo.

Coldspace currently operates in Jabodetabek, Surabaya, Malang, Bali and Medan, with plans to expand throughout the archipelago. The company operates cold storage facilities strategically located near Jakarta's main port and airport to facilitate the handling of temperature-sensitive goods upon entry into Indonesia.

As of April 2023, Coldspace managed 3.000 tons of cold storage capacity and 20 refrigerated trucks, while the market had 30 thousand tons of cold storage capacity and 100 refrigerated trucks operated by Coldspace partners.

With this funding round, Coldspace plans to expand capacity, incl cold storage, reefer trucks, fulfillment, and service area coverage. Then, launched a suite of management solutions for customers to help manage and track products, including Warehouse Management System (WMS), Transportation Management System (TMS), and provided free additional solutions as added value for clients to perform analytics, offer training, and improve quality service.

"Building more than 15 distribution points within three months of launch has demonstrated our ability to scale quickly, and we will accelerate this process by leveraging our strategic investor logistics ecosystem to deliver best-in-class operational excellence and competitive pricing." Close Arnold.