Indonesia’s social commerce platform Evermos bags $30m to finance expansion

Evermos, Indonesia’s social commerce platform, announced raising over $30 million in its oversubscribed Series B funding round led by UOB Venture Management’s Asia Impact Investment Fund II.

The fresh funds will be used to expand the startup’s leadership and growth teams, enter new geographies, and deepen technology development, as per the announcement.

New investors IFC, MDI Ventures, Telkomsel Mitra Innovation (TMI) Future Shape, and existing investors Jungle Ventures and Shunwei Capital also participated in the funding round.

Evermos, founded in November 2018 by Ghufron Mustaqim, Iqbal Muslimin, Ilham Taufiq, and Arip Tirta, enables individuals (resellers) to sell locally sourced products to their community via WhatsApp or social media platforms.

While the resellers focus on generating demand and selling the products, Evermos manages the inventory, logistics, and customer support on its tech-enabled platform, essentially empowering these resellers to operate their own businesses without the need for capital.

“Our vision is to empower 1 million micro-entrepreneurs over the next 5 years. One of the key factors that influence how we run our company is by measuring the sustainability and societal impact of our platform,” said Arip Tirta, president and co-founder of Evermos.

A share of the company’s income is used for the upliftment of individuals and SMEs in lower tier cities, Tirta added.

“Currently, we are running a pilot program ‘Desa Evermos’ with almost 100 villages in Indonesia to partner with the local businesses located in the village and convert the underproductive local residents into community assets by becoming our resellers,” he added.

Today, Evermos said it has generated micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for more than 100,000 active resellers across 500+ Tier 2 and 3 cities and regencies.

Products from 500+ brands, of which more than 95% are sourced from local SMEs, are curated and made available on the platform. These encompass a wide range of products suited to the Indonesian lifestyle including Moslem fashion, halal health and beauty products, halal food and beverage products, among others.