Wahyoo, an Indonesia-based startup focused on digitalising street food vendors, has raised a $5 million Series A funding round led by Intudo Ventures, it announced on Wednesday.
Other investors that joined the round are Kinesys Group, Amatil X, Arkblu Capital, Indogen Capital, Selera Kapital, Gratyo Universal Indonesia and Isenta Hioe.
Prior to this round, Wahyoo had raised an undisclosed amount in seed financing from Agaeti Ventures, Chapter 1 Ventures, Kinesys Group, SMDV, East Ventures, and Rentracks.
Founded in August 2017, Wahyoo focuses on improving the business operations of warung makan, the traditional small-scale local eateries and restaurants catering to Indonesia’s burgeoning working-class population.
The company offers these vendors digital tools and services to attract customers, enhance marketing efforts, implement loyalty programs, order and receive groceries and manage financial accounts. It also provides training on best practices through the Wahyoo Academy. Eateries are also able to earn additional income via advertising and brand partnerships with Wahyoo.
Wahyoo, which claims to serve over 13,500 warung makan in Greater Jakarta, says it will use the fresh capital to accelerate market expansion and make new hires.
“We will continue to add new features and services to better meet the needs of warung makan owners, especially improving supply chain systems and financial products, which are designed to help eateries improve margins and gain access to financial service,” said Wahyoo founder and CEO Peter Shearer.
Instead of taking a cut from sales of the warungs or charge membership fee, the company shares profits from the additional income it helps the eateries make through deals with third parties such as advertisers or financial services providers.
“Small-and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent one of the major engines of economic growth in Indonesia and are being transformed through new innovative businesses like Wahyoo, bringing greater economic prosperity to small business owners throughout the country,” said Intudo Ventures founding partner Patrick Yip.
Indonesia’s MSME segment, which is dominated by traditional warung, or mom-and-pop stores, contributes over 60 per cent of the country’s $1 trillion GDP.
The opportunity around these under-digitised shops has prompted a swarm of tech startups to emerge, many backed by prominent investors.
Among the latest startups serving the warung segment in Indonesia is accounting app BukuWarung, which raised an eight-digit sum last month backed by Quona Capital, East Ventures and other VCs, as well as founders of Indian e-commerce company Snapdeal.
Before that, B2B commerce company Ula secured an investment of $10.5 million from a host of VCs such as Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India, and angel investors like Northstar Group’s Patrick Walujo and Udaan co-founders Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta and Amod Malviya.
