Social commerce startup Mapan snags US$15m in Series A funding

Benjamin Cher

Published Wed, Jun 29, 2022 · 12:11 PM

INDONESIAN social commerce startup Mapan has raised US$15 million in a Series A funding round led by Patamar Capital and a unit of the Astra conglomerate.

Other investors in the round include BRI Ventures, a unit of Bank BRI, Flourish Ventures, 500 Global, and more.

Founded in 2015, Mapan has a group-buy app for Indonesian users, based on the informal social gathering in Indonesia called Arisan. In these gatherings, members take turns to purchase products for the group.

In addition, Mapan offers financing services for these group-buy purchases as well, with influencers and leaders getting commissions from product sales, incentives for recruiting new agents and other performance milestones.

Mapan has also appointed Ardelia Apti as chief executive. She spent 5 years in Gojek, building out the Swadaya programme, a driver benefits programme to help save on daily expenses, as well as heading the GoPay offline business.

“In Indonesia, women play a key role in managing their family’s finances, and Arisan is the manifestation of this process. We are honoured that through the Mapan Arisan product, they have been empowered to help their communities improve their ability to purchase household goods, thus boosting their quality of life,” said Apti.

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The funding will be utilised to expand the product range of the Arisan service. The startup claims to have over 3 million members across Java, Bali, Sumatra and Sulawesi, Indonesia.

“With this new fundraising round from a strong base of both Indonesian and global investors, we are excited by the new phase that is now ushered in. This represents support for Ardelia’s vision of building a community of women to ensure that Indonesian families become financially self-sufficient, and we are excited to further drive this forward,” said Aldi Haryopratomo, founder and board of commissioner member at Mapan.