Vertex, Genesis lead series A round in Indonesian social commerce firm

Indonesian social commerce platform RateS said it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a series A round led by Vertex Ventures SEA and Genesis Alternative Ventures.

RateS co-founder and CEO Jake Goh / Photo credit: RateS

RateS plans to use the new capital to penetrate more deeply into Indonesia’s tier 2 and tier 3 retail markets. It will do so by expanding its reseller base, which it claims to have already surpassed half a million agents.

Founded in 2016, RateS operates a platform powered by proprietary social networks and personalized digital storefronts. Its offering aims to centralize procurement, fulfillment, logistics, payment infrastructure, and training to reduce the barriers of entry to starting a business.

The company said that it had more than tripled its growth in 2020, with most of its revenue coming from tier 2 and tier 3 cities in Indonesia. To date, RateS covers over 400 cities in the archipelago.

“We have already seen our resellers’ incomes increasing by up to 50% since joining our platform,” said RateS co-founder and CEO Jake Goh. “Our collective vision is to revolutionize social commerce through technology, creating digital entrepreneurs and empowering them with tools for conducting their businesses seamlessly and more profitably.”

See Also: Social commerce is gaining momentum in Indonesia

According to the startup, Indonesia’s social commerce market is vast yet still largely untapped. A 2018 McKinsey report projected that by next year, the market will be valued at around US$25 billion.

Other startups in the space include social commerce enabler Desty, which recently secured East Ventures backing, and Chilibeli, which banked US$10 million in a series A round last year.