Maudy Ayunda Participates in Segari's Series A Funding Round

Startups online groceries Segari announced the public figure Maudy Ayunda as one of the angel investors who participated in the series A round. This raise was previously announced on early September 2021 $16 million led by Go-Ventures.

SIG, Alfamart, Gunung Sewu Group (one of the largest agricultural and food groups in Indonesia), and Intrinity Capital (affiliated with Gulaku) participated in the round. Also, the ranks of investors in the previous stage, including Beenext, AC Ventures, and Saison Capital.

Both Maudy Ayundy and Co-founder Segari Farand Anugerah know each other, none other than because they both met while studying in the United States.

“When we were studying in America, we wanted to return to Indonesia and make a positive impact by using technology. Once I told the Segari team's dream to develop services e-grocery, Maudy gave a very positive response," said Farand in an official statement, Tuesday (19/10).

Maudy Ayunda also added, “Before I decided to invest, I was already a Segari customer and I immediately became a fan because the products I get are always fresh because they come directly from farmers. Ordering products is also very easy and delivered directly to the house.”

According to him, Segari's impact in helping local farmers to earn a fair income from the products they sell, made him even more interested in Segari. “I think this is a business model that can be the future of the industry e-grocery Indonesia."

The company is committed to simplifying complex distribution chains by leveraging technology and empowering communities as more efficient sales and distribution partners. Thus, farmers can continue to sell their garden produce at a more fair price.

Segari has a network of farmer partners in Java and Sumatra and utilizes a decentralized warehouse system to maintain product quality in the A+ grade category. Also, cooperate with sales partners to deliver goods within 15 hours of ordering.

Even though it's only been in operation for a year, Segari's business is growing fertile. The company managed to boost the company's performance which rose more than 20 times for the number of customers and revenue. The products available are more complete, ranging from fruit, vegetables, meat, basic necessities, to ready-to-cook ingredients.

Not only using the platform E-commerce, the company has service social commerce Fresh Partner. This service is here to target housewives and SMEs to open an online supermarket business from home and earn additional income. Farand explained that partners only need to have a smartphone and WhatsApp to be able to sell.

"In addition to these opportunities, Mitra Segari also received additional assistance in the form of marketing materials and guidance from the Segari team to continue developing their business."

Market share online groceries

Industry online groceries has fierce competition, but still has high growth space because its penetration is still concentrated in big cities.

The report from Statista said that last year's market share online groceries in this country only reached 0,3%, is predicted to increase 20 basis points to 0,5% in 2022. The pandemic that hit the country was mentioned as one of the main factors that triggered the increase in the popularity of the service online groceries among consumers.

According to the data, the further impact of the pandemic besides changing buying behavior online consumers, is a change in consumer mindset in shopping. “Worried about the economic impact of the pandemic, many Indonesian consumers are becoming more budget conscious. In addition, the priority of purchasing basic necessities and health among consumers is also seen during the pandemic," the report said.

Nevertheless, what does the platform do e-grocery still at a very early stage. Regarding the coverage itself, almost all services are still focused in the city tier-1. Biggest players like HappyFresh still covers the Greater Jakarta area, Surabaya, and several other big cities. Meanwhile, newcomers such as Segari still serve a limited area in Jadetabek.