Ex-Sorabel CEO led firm launches $100m fund to buy D2C brands

Open Labs, an Indonesia-based brand aggregator, has launched a US$100 million fund to invest and acquire direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in Indonesia.

Led by Jeffrey Yuwono, former CEO of ecommerce startup Sorabel, Open Labs said it will provide operational support to brands it invests in and help them grow online and scale operations.

Image credit: Open Labs

In an official release, the company claimed its fund is the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. Open Labs sees regional competition from Jungle Ventures-backed Hypefast and 500 Startups-backed Una brands. These companies have adopted the roll-up model, championed by US-based Thrasio.

Open Labs said it is backed by an “ecommerce unicorn,” but did not divulge any further information when asked about the matter at a press conference.

“We are in an unrivalled position to do this because we have a clear focus on who we want to partner with, the size of our fund, the speed of our decisions to invest, and our deep operational expertise in the online merchant business,” says Yuwono.

Though relatively young, the ecommerce roll-up firm has already acquired or bought majority stakes in several brands and will continue to look for promising labels across different categories. The company also said it has recruited a team of experts well-versed in various operational and regulatory aspects of online selling. It aims to grow the team to have 150 experts in the future.