Jakarta-based logistics startup Shipper announced today that it raised an undisclosed number of Series A funding led by South African Prosus Ventures—the former Naspers Ventures. Earlier media reports indicated an amount of USD 20 million, which the company didn’t want to confirm.
The existing investors Lightspeed, Floodgate, Y Combinator, Insignia Ventures, and AC Ventures also participated this time. They previously invested USD 5 million in Shipper’s seed round back in September 2019.
With the new capital, the firm aims to continue expanding its service to more Indonesian cities and grow the team, according to COO and co-founder Budi Handoko. “We want to hire local talent, to build a strong product with technology, to manage logistics and shipping needs that are currently not well organized,” he said in a virtual press conference.
Founded in 2017, Shipper serves small and medium-sized businesses by allowing them to choose the best rates across major carriers. The company has partnered with more than 100 courier service providers such as Gojek, Grab, J&T Express, Lalamove, and POS Indonesia.
Shipper’s core products are the shipping aggregator service, as well as warehousing and fulfillment.
On the platform, sellers can create, track, and manage their orders. Their pickup services are done through couriers who collect packages and distribute them to different logistics providers in the country, acting as micro-fulfillment centers. The startup also provides an API, which enterprises can plug into their apps or websites if they want to add shipping and tracking services.
A lagging industry
“We are also planning to release a consumer-to-consumer service, probably in the next quarter or two,” said co-founder Phil Opamuratawongse.
This year, the company wants strengthen its presence in the local market. Opamuratawongse describes Indonesian’s logistics industry as very complicated, with a lot of problems to tackle, especially in smaller cities. In those areas, delivery fees tend to be higher, usually 40% of the total transaction, according to the company. This might deter people from shopping online. According to the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index report for 2018, Indonesia’s logistics sector still lags behind its regional peers Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.