Baskit's Focus After Receiving Initial Funding of 49 Billion Rupiah

Baskit, a startup that provides digitization solutions for supply chain companies in Indonesia announced an initial funding of $3,3 million or more than IDR 49,4 billion. This round involved regional and local investors such as Betatron Venture Group, Forge Ventures, Investible, 1982 Ventures, DS/X Ventures, Orvel Ventures, Michael Sampoerna, as well as several angel investors.

This round was booked three months after Baskit announced pre-start funding of IDR 23 billion. It is planned that the fresh funds will be used to accelerate business line expansion, enrich technology services, and maximize resources to enter into cooperation contracts with various stakeholders. brand and manufacturers.

In the era new normal Currently, there is a high level of awareness of technology, but limited access, thinning margins and increased operating expenses due to inflation, and decreased sales due to the weakening of certain sectors.

Baskit is here at the right time to help businesses go through this quite challenging phase. The company believes that new digital financial and trading access will only develop if there is a strong infrastructure behind it.

In a separate interview together DailySocial.id, Baskit Co-Founder & CEO Yann Schuerman admitted that before starting this business, para founder have a background in distribution, be it distribution technology or retail related. "I myself spent half a decade in the consumer product industry, as did the generation above me. The supply chain industry runs in my DNA," he said.

Another Co-Founder Yoonjung Yi, who is also the wife of Yann, has deep expertise in the consumer product industry. They met while working at the same retail company. After years of studying the market in Asia, they had the opportunity to move to Singapore and explore the market in Southeast Asia.

Yann admitted that the market conditions at that time were very attractive because cellular penetration was very high, penetration E-commerce very high, but the technology and supply chain maturity is quite low. Not much technology and efficiency. Seeing the experience and market depth that is quite mature, they decided to get more serious about starting a business.

In June 2022, they met their third Co-Founder, Yasser Arafat who has experience in distribution technology and knows the local market. "We were able to work together and launch our initiative in Indonesia to support the consumer goods supply chain. This is a combination of individual career and life experiences accompanied by a very deep love for the supply chain, especially in the line of consumer goods," said Yann.

Carrying out a mission to advance traditional supply chains by providing simple commercial and technological support to distribution businesses offline,Baskit offers three main solutions, namely features to increase sales, digital tools for operational efficiency (eg inventory management and basic bookkeeping), and access to working capital. In providing the ultimate solution, Baskit has collaborated with Koinworks, Modalku, and Finfra.

In less than one year of operation, the company is said to have experienced quite rapid growth of up to 70% per month. This indicates that there is a demand in the market to strengthen the operations of distributors and wholesalers who are now facing increasing competitive and fiscal pressures after the pandemic hit.

Focus on distributors

According to data presented by the companies, collectively, the trade industry contributes more than half of Indonesia's GDP, and is supported by more than 200 thousand traditional distribution businesses. This is to ensure that everyone can access a variety of products, from F&B products to building materials.

Yann also revealed that there were many parties who tried to offer technological solutions with the aim of eliminating this middle layer, but for him it was not sustainable.

"Distributors play an important role in terms of infrastructure and business relationships. Baskit is fully committed to supporting these intermediaries in their efforts to empower local communities, and we believe that this will generate tremendous economic benefits in the long term," he explained.

The Managing Partner of the Betratron Venture Group sees that there is a common vision between the companies that the role of traditional business people in Asia, such as wholesalers and distributors, is deeply embedded in this industry. "The winners of the future will be the companies that can find a way to work with them, not against them," he stressed.

Currently Baskit has reached markets in Jabodetabek and West Java. Going forward, the company will also speed up soon The roadmap technology and city-by-city expansion, while continuing to embed flexibility in its platform to accommodate Indonesia's vast and diverse market landscape.

"Our dream is to build a platform that orchestrates all the relevant players in the supply chain, generates economic benefits, and ultimately benefits consumers. To do so, we have a focus on building technology that excels in terms of functionality and ease of use for small and medium businesses. (SME) that we support," concluded Yann.

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Disclosure: DS/X Ventures is part of the DailySocial.id group