Evermos, Indonesia’s largest social commerce platform, successfully raised US$39 million in its Series C funding round, which was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC Emerging Asia Fund, and followed by returning partners like Jungle Ventures, Shunwei Capital, UOB Venture Management and Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi.
This funding round also saw investment from new partners SWC Global, Endeavor Catalyst and Uni-President Asset Holdings.
Since its founding in 2018, the company has been dedicated to solving the complex challenges impacting local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which account for 99.9% of businesses in Indonesia, according to the country’s central bank.
Though MSMEs contribute 60.3% of GDP, not more than 0.5% are able to scale up, in part because of the logistical challenges that abound in Indonesia’s market. With more than 17,000 islands that span 5,100 kilometres from west to east, the Indonesian market’s unique geography makes nationwide expansion costly and time-consuming, especially in lower-tier cities.
The company, it says, is committed to mitigating these logistical challenges since its inception to ensure a level-playing field for all Indonesians, regardless of geographic location, income level or gender. This includes establishing direct relationships with local brands to bring them closer to consumers and offering comprehensive solutions for each brand’s specific commerce needs. By joining the company’s ecosystem, brands are able to tap into 500 cities, where its 160,000 resellers can operate without requiring capital-intensive resources.
The latest funding will be used towards strengthening the company’s reseller network by deepening penetration in Java and expanding to Sumatera, making it faster for brands to reach more of Indonesia’s growing population in tier-2 and -3 cities.
In addition to growing its reseller network, the company says it will continue to spearhead upskilling efforts for resellers to expand their customer base beyond personal network through digital advertising. The company saw 18 times higher sales of resellers who leverage digital tools compared with those relying on personal networks only.
The proceeds from the funding will also fuel the development of the company’s array of artificial intelligence-powered tools and solutions for resellers to understand consumers better through customer relationship management.
The company, which has 160,000 monthly transacting resellers as of January 2023, has shown, since the pandemic, 17 times gross merchandise value growth from financial year 2020 to financial year 2022.