Indonesian B2B commerce startup GudangAda closed a turbulent financial year in 2024 with sharply lower revenue but improved loss performance, as it winds down parts of its core FMCG marketplace to fully pivot to beauty retail under the Kaka Beauty brand, according to a recent regulatory filing reviewed by DealStreetAsia.
According to the audited results for the year ended December 31, 2024, GudangAda’s Singapore entity, GudangAda Investment Pte. Ltd., saw its revenue slip by 29.5% to $11.5 million, down from $16.8 million a year earlier. Nearly 94% of the contribution came from trading revenue, while the remaining came from commission.
While gross profit rose by 183% to $0.74 million, it represents a gross margin of roughly 6.4%, underscoring the thin economics of GudangAda’s legacy FMCG trading business. Cost rationalisation helped reduce the bottom-line loss, but the business still reported a net loss of $2.27 million for the period. Total comprehensive loss widened to $4.77 million, partly due to foreign exchange translation effects.
Despite the revenue contraction, management touted meaningful progress on cost discipline. Operating costs such as selling, general and administrative expenses were sharply down from previous years, by 69% and 54%, respectively, and a near-elimination of product development expenditures helped slow cash burn, down by 99.9% to just $2,224.
As a result, cash used in operating activities improved to $5.44 million in 2024, down by 60.6% from far larger cash outflows in the prior year.
GudangAda ended 2024 with a strong cash balance of $47.44 million, shielding it against near-term liquidity pressures. Total assets stood at $51.17 million, while total liabilities were just $3.67 million, leaving equity attributable to owners at around $47.5 million.
Investor exits underscore shifting fortunes
Against this financial backdrop, GudangAda’s leadership and board explored strategic options in early 2024, including scenarios that ranged from business winding-down to repositioning in new verticals.
DealStreetAsia reported in July 2025 that those deliberations culminated in a coordinated buyback of preference shares from five major institutional investors—Wavemaker Partners, Asia Partners, Alpha Wave Global, Pavilion Capital and Peak XV—most of whom exited at significant markdowns to their original capital. The move consolidated ownership around founders and long-term backers while reducing external pressure on strategic direction.
With its legacy FMCG marketplace challenged by slim margins and competitive headwinds, GudangAda has made a strategic pivot toward beauty and personal care retail through its Kaka Beauty brand.
According to the company’s social media and public footprint, Kaka Beauty now operates four outlets across Greater Jakarta and Bandung — including locations in Bekasi, Depok, Sumedang and Bandung — combining physical retail stores with a broader distribution play targeting small merchants and beauty retailers. Executives describe beauty as a category with more predictable repeat demand and potentially healthier unit economics than traditional warung staples.
GudangAda’s cap table
A company spokesperson said, “Initially, many of our early investors focused on FMCG, which was our focus at the outset. However, recognising the need to diversify and capitalise on new opportunities, we transitioned our focus to the beauty segment, where we see substantial growth potential.”
However, Kaka Beauty, which directly competes with the General Atlantic-backed Sociolla, remains in its early phase from a revenue and impact perspective. Offline retail and category expansion efforts are ongoing, and it will take time before the segment makes a measurable contribution to consolidated top-line growth.
