Indonesia’s Dropezy expands into quick commerce with $2.5m funding

Dropezy, an Indonesian ultrafast grocery delivery startup, has announced raising $2.5 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series A funding round led by Forge Ventures.

The fresh funding will fuel Dropezy’s expansion into the quick commerce, according to the announcement.

Tekton Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, Nordstar, and a group of star angels, including the founders of Kopi Kenangan and Bukukas, also participated in the funding round.

Co-founded by Nitesh Chellaram and Chandni Chainani in 2019, the startup delivers groceries and everyday essentials to customers in 20 minutes.

Following this round of funding, Dropezy will expand its network of dark stores – micro fulfillment hubs – to enable 20-minute delivery of groceries and other everyday essentials across the Greater Jakarta Area.

The startup started from a small space in the basement of an apartment in Central Jakarta but now has close to 100 employees and is launching dark stores across the city to shorten the last-mile distance and ensure that customers get their orders within 20 minutes.

“We started Dropezy because we weren’t happy with the options we had to buy groceries online,” said Nitesh Chellaram, co-founder and COO of Dropezy.

“When we launched, Chandni and I packed and delivered every order ourselves to really understand what urban customers wanted out of a grocery delivery service and how we could deliver the very best experience,” Chellaram added.

With 60% of first-time customers still purchasing from the startup after 6 months, Chellaram said their customers already love the consistency and freshness of their product selection and their fair prices.

“This is only possible because we control both our inventory and logistics with a committed fleet of riders who allocate at least 6 hours a day for small package deliveries,” Chellaram added.

Dropezy is built from the ground up to satisfy urban consumers who demand convenience and speed allowing consumers to order daily necessities in bite-size with no minimum order, at the cheapest delivery rates in Indonesia, as per the announcement.