The fresh capital will be utilised to bankroll the company’s expansion into tier 2 and 3 markets in Indonesia by increasing its reseller membership network
A social commerce platform operating in Indonesia, RateS, announced today it has closed an undisclosed amount in Series A round, co-led by Vertex Ventures and Genesis Alternative Ventures.
The fresh capital will be utilised to bankroll the company’s expansion into tier 2 and 3 markets in Indonesia by expanding the “density” of its reseller membership network, which the company claims to have surpassed half a million.
Apart from this, the funds will be used to improve product for future product and platform development.
RateS was launched in 2016, and enables small businesses and individuals to start their online business through social channels. RateS helps resellers solve inefficiencies faced by resellers by using technology to modernise sourcing, distribution and credit.
According to RateS, it has since expanded to over 400 cities across Indonesia and has more than tripled its growth in 2020 alone, with tier 2 and 3 cities within Indonesia contributing to the bulk of its revenue.
For us, the true measure of RateS’s success will be in how much we can improve our resellers’ livelihood and businesses. We have already seen our resellers’ incomes increasing by up to 50 per cent since joining our platform, said Jake Goh, co-founder and CEO of RateS.
Our collective vision is to revolutionise social commerce through technology, creating digital entrepreneurs and empowering them with tools to conduct their business seamlessly and more profitably, he added.
Social commerce in Indonesia has witnessed strong growth. A McKinsey report forecast that social commerce is expected to grow into a US$25 billion dollar industry by 2022, driven by growing merchant bases.
As with many other models we have seen, e-commerce marketplaces in Southeast Asia have long evolved into a race-to-the-bottom with cash serving as the only standing moat, said Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures.
RateS, on the other hand, has unearthed an efficient acquisition playbook to access Tier 2 and 3 cities in Indonesia that is not only cost-effective and sustainable but more importantly has huge untapped market potential, he added.