Indonesian social commerce startup KitaBeli raises US$20m

KITABELI, an Indonesian social commerce platform focused on tier 2 and 3 cities, has raised a US$20 million funding round led by Glade Brook Capital Partners, a US-based growth equity investor.

The round was joined by KitaBeli’s existing investors, AC Ventures and Go-Ventures – which is backed by tech giant GoTo Group – as well as venture debt provider InnoVen Capital, which has come in as a new investor.

Launched in March 2020, KitaBeli offers fast-moving consumer goods on its gamified platform, allowing users and partners to get discounts and earn money by leveraging their social networks. It claims to be the largest direct-to-consumer social commerce platform in Indonesia.

The startup had last year raised a US$10 million Series A round led by Go-Ventures and joined by AC Ventures and East Ventures. With the new funding, KitaBeli plans to further expand into tier 2 and 3 cities across Indonesia, while also rolling out new product categories such as beauty, personal care, mother and baby products and frozen food.

Linda Guo, partner at Glade Brook, said that her firm believes the next wave of e-commerce growth in Indonesia will be driven by consumer demand outside major cities like Jakarta. Adrian Li, managing partner of AC Ventures, added that KitaBelli has focused on creating a solution suited for rural consumers.