Segari Gets Initial Funding, Focuses on Presenting Fresh Food Ingredients

Platform online groceries Segari today (22/3) announced the acquisition of initial funding. The round was led by Beenext with the involvement of AC Ventures and Saison Capital. A number of angel investors who was not named also took part.

Segari (PT Sayur For All) was founded by three people founder, including Joshua Setiawan (CEO), Farand Anugerah (COO), and Farandy Ramadhana (CTO). Segari's vision is to bring high quality fresh products to Indonesian households.

"Getting [fresh produce] with high quality and consistency is difficult. Not everyone can do it, but that's why we focus on it. While other players may focus on increasing SKUs, lowest prices, or expanding area; we build infrastructure to focus on quality And this is what our customers like," said Joshua.

One approach, Fresh utilizing a network of micro warehouses and thousands of agents in Jakarta for the product distribution process. For now, the ordering process can be done via the site mobile web or applications that have already been released.

Segari also ensures that each product reaches the customer's house within 15 hours of being harvested. What is done is not by keeping stock of goods, but by making strict predictions of customer demand by balancing the harvest schedules of their partner farmers.

"We build technology infrastructure end-to-end internally adapted to handle supply chain problems this complex. This includes receiving products from farmers, to long-distance delivery to customers," added Farandy.

The Segari platform is present in the midst of industry growth online groceries. Although this category still accounts for a small portion of the product's GMV E-commerce overall, however, there is great potential to be explored for the Indonesian market. Case studies from abroad, such as those conducted by Ding Dong Mai Chai (China), Big Basket (India), Ocado (Europe); show service potential online groceries to do hypergrowth and towards equivalent valuation unicorn.

From the survey submitted by the Segari team, despite the social restrictions due to the pandemic, many people in Jakarta still go to supermarkets or markets to buy groceries. They do not fully believe in transactions online for fresh produce, because they are concerned about the quality and freshness of the product.

AC Ventures Managing Partner Adrian Li said, "Segari's value proposition of delivering high quality products through a data-driven approach and micro-warehousing sets them apart from other platforms." He also believes that fresh produce has the potential to be the next business opportunity E-commerce, especially because it is driven by the changing trends that have occurred due to Covid-19.

Undeniably, competition in the landscape online groceries it's getting tighter. Apart from new players arriving, there are legacy players who continue to expand their product and business scope. Call it Happyfresh, which now covers the Java and Bali areas -- apart from that, it has partnered with Grab and Bualapak.

Then there is Sayurbox which continues to expand its market coverage. Finally, they reportedly received an investment from Tokopedia -- the consolidation allowed them to connect with the customer ecosystem marketplace the largest local in Indonesia. In addition, there is Kedai Sayur with a unique approach, collaborating with thousands of mobile vegetable seller partners.

On the other hand, decacorns Gojek also continue to explore the online grocery market through Grabmart. Other big players like Blibli also do the same through its O2O strategy.