Singapore homeware retailer Iuiga gets S$10m Series A funding, to focus on Indonesia

HOMEWARE retailer Iuiga has secured S$10 million in Series A funding from the technology arm of Indonesian conglomerate Konimex Group, which will be chiefly put to growing its operations in Indonesia.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said the funding will be channelled into its Singaporean and Indonesian operations, but Indonesia will be the focus for this year, as it looks to boost operations in "strategically burgeoning" markets.

Jaslyn Chan, Iuiga's chief growth officer, said: "Indonesia's potential is immense with its burgeoning tech-savvy demographics. We want to be right in the action and unlock the economic potential in growth by 2025."

"In particular, we're observing a noticeable sensibility within the Indonesian consumer market; consumer preferences are evolving where brand affinity is now pegged towards how one's personal values align with a brand's broader values and mission," Ms Chan added.

Iuiga intends to increase hiring, starting with plans to double its staff strength in Indonesia in the next six months.

It will also expand its physical footprint to fulfil "growing omnichannel demand", although it did not say by how many outlets.

Iuiga said its daily online retail traffic was up to four times the traffic at its brick-and-mortar outlets, particularly when Singapore implemented the "circuit-breaker" period in April. The company currently has nine stores in Singapore.

The funding will also be used for product development, and invested in Big Data and artificial intelligence to beef up e-commerce customer personalisation capabilities.

Iuiga was founded in 2017 and has since grown 12 times in gross market value.