Ula Again Announces Series A Funding Of 282 Billion Rupiah

Ula, a technology startup for the modernization of traditional retail, has again announced a Series A funding of $20 million (over 282 billion Rupiah) led by Quona Capital and B Capital Group. Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India, which were previous investors, participated in this round.

With this funding, the company has ambitions to expand its team and expand its location so that more small retailers can be helped through Ula's technology. In addition, Ula will expand product categories to fashion and electronics, from now reaching retailers selling FMCG and vegetable products.

Ula completed $10 million early stage funding right in June last year. The ranks of investors involved in this round are SMDV, Quona Capital, Saison Capital, and Alter Global. Several angel investors also participated, including Patrick Walujo, Willy Arifin, Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, Rohan Monga, and Rahul Mehta.

Quote from TechCrunch, Quona Capital Managing Partner Ganesh Rengaswamy said, “If you look at the whole retail value chains, especially essential products, such as FMCG, staples, and fresh produce, are highly fragmented. Whereas the market has moved in terms of more efficient consolidation, demand and supply.”

He continued, “Ula is trying to redo the retail distribution ecosystem by overlay significant technology. Ula connects some of the biggest players on the side supply to the smallest retailers and consumers.”

Ula provides working capital for micro-retailers, who usually operate in small shops in their yards. Thus, they do not have to wait to be paid by customers to buy new stock. The company realizes that this is serious challenges faced micro retailers in Asia.

These microbusiness owners generally have strong ties to customers, often selling goods without being paid up front. Meanwhile, collecting these payments often takes longer than expected.

"Frictionless payments and offering credit to retailers so they can manage cash flow more efficiently is an essential component of modern digital commerce,” said Rengaswamy.

Ula was founded by former Flipkart India executives Nipun Mehra, and Derry Sakti, who started his career at P&G in Indonesia, in January 2020. Mehra said that most of Indonesia's retail market is unorganized, as is India.

In the vegetable category, for example, many farmers sell to middlemen and then enter the market. “From the market, supplies go to small wholesalers and so on. There are many players in this chain," he said.

Over the past year, the company claimed to have served more than 20 thousand stores. Ula first operated in Surabaya, quickly expanding its presence throughout East Java and into Semarang.