Startup Chat Commerce Mimin Announces Initial Funding from Otto Digital

Mimin, startup chat commerce enabler and business operations virtual assistant, today (05/5) announced seed funding at an undisclosed amount from Otto Digital, part of the Salim Group. Later Mimin will work on the MSME community from Otto Digital which are spread throughout Indonesia, in line with being the main target of Mimin's services.

Fresh funds will be used to develop new products and features to serve MSMEs and sellers online, as well as strengthening technology infrastructure and order management.

Otto Digital CEO Reginald Hamdani said that Otto Digital's interest in Mimin was because the startup provided relevant solutions for MSMEs and helped businesses increase the efficiency of using WhatsApp as a sales tool.

"This investment is in line with Otto Digital's vision of developing the economy by empowering communities and expanding economic growth to rural areas. Mimin is one of the enablers we need to make this happen. Therefore, our investment is a form of commitment in building stronger Indonesian MSMEs, " he said in an official statement.

Reginald continued, his party also has high confidence in the track record of Mimin's founders, namely Joseph Simbar (CEO) and Bayu Eka Putra (COO). Joseph is entrepreneur series who is experienced in the world of technology, especially SaaS enterprise for 15 years. Meanwhile, Bayu has more than 17 years of experience as executive management in various multi-industry companies.

"Mimin's founders have a big vision and strong commitment. The combination of these two things is the key to success. With their relatively young age, high capacity and energy, we believe they can steer Mimin's development on the right track," added Reginald.

Industry chat commerce

Mimin quoted from two report sources, that according to Research and Markets, in the landscape of the buying and selling industry in Indonesia, social commerce estimated to grow by 17,9% per year from 2022-2028. Supported by the Populix report in 2022, as many as 86% of Indonesians have shopped via social media and applications chat, such as TikTok Shop (45%), WhatsApp (21%), Facebook (10%), and Instagram (10%).

This increase shows that the majority of sellers online in Indonesia has various sales channels. Not just opening a shop online on the platform e-commerce, Many sellers focus on promoting their sales through social media and applications chat To manage sales social commerce Currently, the average seller relies on recording order, checking postage, and receiving payments manually. This manual process tends to be time consuming and prone to risks human error.

Mimin offers automation chat commerce and an order management platform so that business people can more easily run their stores. Through Mimin, sellers can easily enter orders from the format order which has been written via WhatsApp on the Mimin application and automatically provides an invoice and payment confirmation.

With this solution, businesses can process orders 70% faster and more accurately. Not only that, every buyer who has made a transaction can easily be contacted again to be given an offer that is more personal and relevant.

Mimin CEO Joseph Simbar said, based on findings in the field, many sellers and buyers are more comfortable carrying out conversational transactions, for example via WhatsApp or Instagram DM. Mimin is here to help the seller online by making it easier to process each order through automated solutions, sellers can save time and effort, and further grow their business.

"We also provide insight "relevant for business actors so that they can innovate based on these insights," he said.

Currently, the Mimin application has been used by MSMEs in 20 provinces and 55 cities in Indonesia who operate in various industries, especially home F&B, fashion and daily necessities. To expand its reach, Mimin collaborates with local governments in several areas such as Sragen and Kep. Riau and approaching the local MSME community by providing training and assistance. One of them is Mimin's training which is currently taking place in Sragen and Kep. Riau succeeded in inviting 10.000 MSMEs to join and use Mimin to manage their business.

To serve retail companies on a larger scale, Mimin also provides Mimin Pro services, sellers can easily process orders that come via chat, then delegate the completion of the transaction to the nearest branch. This helps increase turnover for the company, as well as benefits buyers because it makes shipping costs more affordable. This service has been used by well-known retail brands such as Hero Supermarket, Bumame Pharmacy, and LotteMart to connect buyers with the nearest branch.