Qraved alumni’s new startup helps stores grow sales with WhatsApp

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Steven Kim, CEO and co-founder of Yobo / Image credit: Yobo

A growing pool of tech entrepreneurs are giving things another go in Southeast Asia. One of them is Steven Kim, the CEO and co-founder of food discovery service Qraved.

Together with a group of Qraved alumni, he has launched a new startup, Yobo, which helps Indonesia’s offline businesses grapple with inconsistent sales and declining customer retention.

😟 Problem

Many factors contribute to the struggles faced by businesses in the retail, food, and lifestyle sectors:

• Limited customer data makes direct and targeted marketing difficult and ineffective.
• Marketing expenses are growing but they don’t always produce results.
• Rising competition means standing out is harder than ever.

💡 Solution

• Yobo helps businesses to automatically segment customers and send custom messaging such as promotions and reminders via Whatsapp.
• They can capture leads offline and online, such as through in-store sign-ups or Instagram referrals, without needing additional apps.
• All interactions and conversions are tracked via payment integrations.
• Yobo offers a fully managed approach, helping with research, planning, strategy, set-up, execution, monitoring, and reporting.

The startup draws inspiration from WeChat’s success in China as a growth tool for brands.

📊 Market Size

Yobo is targeting Indonesia’s US$350 billion retail, food, and lifestyle market. Within this, it has identified:

• A US$12 billion serviceable market covering 500,000 retail outlets.
• Within these 500,000 stores, it is going after US$333 per month in subscription fees. It also hopes drive 200 transactions a month for each outlet, making US$8.70 per transaction.

The startup is looking at global expansion.

🤝 Team

Yobo’s team consists of alumni from Qraved. The startup raised at least US$9.3 million from the likes of Gobi Partners, 500 Global, and others. It last held a series C round in 2019.

• Steven Kim, CEO and co-founder: Steven previously co-founded Qraved and was a senior executive at several Rocket Internet ventures, including Zalora, OfficeFab, and Wimdu. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a background in applied statistics.
• Sean Liao, CTO and co-Founder: He has led tech ventures like Imaginato and Jetdevs. He has also co-founded Qraved. He holds a computer science degree from the University of Illinois.
• Ivan Aditya, AI, growth, and marketing head: He has held management roles at Sociolla, Bobobobo, Qraved, and Ula.
• Kautsar Irnando, vice-president of operations: He has held various management roles at Qraved.

💰 Financials

• In one case, it helped a restaurant group of six outlets make US$62,000 a month during a six-month pilot, with a return on investment of over 2,000%.
• The startup has made over US$57,000 in monthly recurring revenue in September this year, with a gross margin of over 50% in 2024.
• It is on track to make US$1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in the coming months by working with brands like Pepper Lunch, Tanyu Grilled Fish, and Cat and the Fiddle.
• The startup has raised money from Antler and DS/X Ventures. It is now seeking US$1 million in funding. They aim to reach US$10 million in ARR within 12 months with 2,000 active outlets.