Moxy, Bilna team up on financing, rebranding
Play
Moxy and Bilna, Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platform for women, have joined to complete a US$15 million (Bt534 million) round of financing from leading regional investors and strategically rebrand under “Orami”.
The proceeds will be used to create a comprehensive Southeast Asian online destination dedicated solely to women, tapping into the region’s rapidly emerging female economy.
The round is led by SMDV, with Gobi Partners, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Ardent Capital and Velos Partners.
“It is great to have such a diverse combination of investors – with SMDV’s local Indonesian strength, Ardent Capital’s regional breadth, Gobi Partners’ know-how in social commerce and women economics, and the addition of global powerhouses Eduardo Saverin and Velos Partners,” Jeremy Fichet, CEO of Orami, said last week.
“This combination plus our regional management team arms Orami with great resources and capabilities to capture a commanding position in Southeast Asia’s female ecommerce market,” he said.
Orami has based itself in Jakarta, consolidated close to 500 employees as a group and dedicated significant efforts for the successful integration of staff to bridge together the two company cultures.
Since then, it has experienced steady sales increases with January and February the best months ever for the company.
Roderick Purwana, managing partner of SMDV, said Indonesia is a burgeoning market with growing economic power and a thriving population. It was important to seek out a winning team to best tackle this country.
This merge makes sense because of Bilna’s dominance in the market and Moxy’s pulse on the female economy.
It’s a rare find to find such experienced operators under one roof. SMDV’s local strength definitely helps add to a winning solution.
Its strengthening is to focus on women.
The raised capital will be directed towards enriching the company’s product selection for women, focusing on enhancing its social commerce components, optimising its mobile and technology strategy under a unified platform for the region and extending the send-to-end-user experience.
Orami will also be looking at implementing expansion plans into a new market in Southeast Asia.
Kay-Mok Ku, partner at Gobi Partners, said Southeast Asia is missing a key player who understands how to properly market towards the evolving and underserved female consumer.
In China, it has witnessed similar growth in social commerce and businesses targeting female demographic groups.
Orami has the right combination of management and vision to realise this model in Southeast Asia.
Eduardo Saverin, who was Facebook’s first investor, said the Orami team is on top of its game with a laser focus on the intersection of social commerce, content and women.
Between Thailand and Indonesia, where more than five million babies are born a year, women not only serve as the gateway to the home but are also the key drivers of a rapidly growing economy and future generation.
Stats at a glance
- Basket size is 25% over average in the region
- 75% of Orami consumers are women
- About 3 million visits a month
- On peak days, capacity to handle up to 12,000 orders
