Kilo, a Vietnam-based e-commerce platform that aims to digitize Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has raised $5 million in a pre-Series A round co-led by Altos Ventures and January Capital.

The round was joined by Goodwater Capital, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Decisive Capital Management, Ratio Ventures, and other angel investors.

Kilo said in a statement, it plans to grow its team by 4 times over the coming 12 months.

It also said, its future roadmap includes several features to further enhance customer experience such as financing, logistics, and self-service eCommerce store creation for MSMEs.

Founded in 2020 by Kartick Narayan, a veteran of Amazon, Coupang, and Tiki Vietnam, Kilo focuses on bringing the modern shopping format to small and medium traditional store owners.

It does so through a platform that connects wholesalers with retailers and helps them manage businesses across multiple sales channels. With Kilo, small and medium shop owners now have a one-stop shop where they can browse, build a cart, and check-out with transparent pricing, a wide array of assortment, and in-stock details. This helps them optimize inventory turnover – saving costs and reducing risks over the long term.

According to the statement, Kilo has grown its net merchandise value by 320 times since launching in October 2020.

“In Vietnam, MSMEs are the backbone of the retail economy – serving 80% of all purchases. Our vision is to use technology to connect, enable, and enhance the core components of the retail value chain with a deep focus on customer experience,

“Our mission has taken on new meaning during Covid as Kilo has enabled offline MSMEs to thrive by converting the procurement process from face-to-face interactions to a contact-free, online process. Customers across the nation have been vocal about how Kilo has kept their business running and families safe during Covid,” said Kartick.

Kilo’s Head of Product and Engineering Ryan Wilber said also said, Kilo has achieved product-market fit quickly, acquiring and retaining thousands of MSMEs in 24 provinces across Vietnam.

“We are excited about the adoption of Kilo’s platform and tools. With this new round of funding, we want to continue to expand the value we are bringing to MSMEs and enable them with more features that will continue to transform the customer experience,” he added.

Meanwhile, Altos Ventures Partner Richard Song said: “We are super excited about our partnership with Kartick and his team at Kilo. They will revolutionize the traditional retail industry in Vietnam with their maniacal focus on the customer and technology. The breadth of knowledge and expertise the team brings to market is exceptional and unmatched in the region.”

Altos was founded in 1996 and has invested in more than 100 companies in the US, Korea, Japan, and other countries. Kilo will be Altos’ first investment in Vietnam.

January Capital Partner Benjamin Dunphy also said: “We are pleased to participate in our second round with Kilo as a co-lead with Altos Ventures. We believe strongly in supporting founders who enable MSMEs to be more successful in developing markets, an area in which Kilo has shown significant success.”

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