Indonesia's IndoTrading receives $1.5m in Series A funding

Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures, GMO Venture Partners, Convergence Ventures, Aucfan, and existing investor Redbright Partners are also said to have taken part in the round.

Set up in 2012, IndoTrading offers small enterprises a platform through which they can promote their products by setting up individual websites. It site generates revenue through membership packages, starting at IDR1.5 million ($113) per month.

IndoTrading claims to have 1.7 million monthly visitors and 12,000 registered merchants. With 45 employees, the company now has a presence in Indonesia's three major cities: Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya. According to a release, growth is being driven by increasing domestic demand among business for IT and web-based service.

The country's Ministry of Cooperatives & Small and Medium Enterprises data show there were more than 22 million registered micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in 2012. Meanwhile, the International Data Corporation (IDC) has estimated that SME IT spending reached $1.1 billion as of the end of 2014.

Much of the the venture capital activity in Indonesia - often involving Japanese investors - has focused on e-commerce start-ups. The country's size, youthful demographics, rapid economic growth, urbanization and emerging middle class make it fertile ground for such businesses.

In January, YJ Capital - the corporate VC arm of Yahoo! Japan - backed Indonesia fashion flash sale site VIP Plaza, while in October Softbank led a $100 million round of funding for Tokopedia, an online marketplace.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
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• Southeast Asia
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