Bluebird Invests in Social Commerce Startup Dagangan's Pre Series A Funding

Social commerce startup Dagangan announced a pre-series A funding with an undisclosed amount from a series of investors, including CyberAgent Capital, Spiral Ventures, 500 Startups, and Bluebird Group. This is the beginning round of series A funding that is expected to be closed soon.

According to the company's official statement today (18/6), the fresh funds will be used to fuel the expansion to 7 thousand villages this year, therefore, more people in rural areas, far from shopping centers can get their daily needs.

CyberAgent Capital's Managing Director Nobuaki Kitagawa said, "We believe that Dagangan can have a positive impact in helping and improving the economy of the community in tier 3 and 4 regions. "[..] With Dagangan team's experience and in-depth knowledge of the FMCG industry, we believe that Dagangan will succeed in penetrating underserved local markets where highly inefficient supply chains and a lack of trust from local communities persist,” he said.

Dagangan is a social commerce application that provides various household needs, ranging from basic needs, fresh products, to other daily needs in retail and wholesale. The startup, which was founded in 2019, targets village stall owners who have had to travel 20 km-30 km to shop for daily needs.

"They are usually underserved by principal brands as they are far from urban areas and require help instead of having to close their shops for shopping within 20 km-30 km," Dagangan's Co-Founder, Wilson Yanaprasetya explained separately in a virtual press conference.

Dagangan has warehouses in various remote areas on Java Island as a hub and distribution channel in every village, involving local communities to solve distribution access problems in rural areas. Wilson continued, the entire Dagangan's procurement process is carried out in two ways, taken directly from the principal brand and then stored in hubs, and taken directly from the product owner for products from MSMEs in the surrounding villages.

To date, not only providing household needs, Dagangan platform also sells various MSME products from snacks, kitchen spices, processed ready-to-eat foods, also making their own labels with affordable product prices.

Dagangan targets two types of consumers, shop owners as business actors who usually make large transactions and make purchases on the Dagangan application. Also, retail buyers, who are individuals intend to shop for daily necessities through the Dagangan Mall application. Products ordered by consumers will be delivered within 1x24 hours by its own fleet.

In addition to providing daily needs, Dagangan also partners with local entrepreneurs. Thus, they can improve their life quality through entrepreneurship. There are several hub partners that have joined. Currently, Dagangan operates in more than 4,000 villages spread across Yogyakarta, Central Java, and West Java.

Dagangan's Co-Founder, Ryan Manafe added, with the current business model, his team is able to attract local community to grow together. “Dagangan is here to provide convenience to local communities in getting on with their daily economic activities. With the spirit of building the local economy, Dagangan offers a one-stop digital service solution to provide various household needs," he said.

In the future, Dagangan is to expand to other village locations around Java. By the end of this year, it is expectd to be present in 7 thousand villages, 30 hubs, and 40 thousand active consumers.

“We are happy to listen to requests from the community regarding daily needs. If there is a high enough demand for an item, then we will look for them. We expect to become a reliable application for people in rural areas,” Ryan concluded.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian