Indonesian textile tech platform Wifkain said Wednesday it has raised a seed round led by Insignia Ventures Partners as it builds Indonesia’s first tech-enabled textile trading platform.
Prominent angels including Atome’s Wawan Salum participated in this round, Wifkain said in a statement.
The funding will go towards expanding the suite of services provided to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and fashion brands on their platform, onboarding more merchants, and building out their team.
Wifkain was founded in 2020 by former banker and fashion entrepreneur Sara Sofyan (Chief Executive Officer), serial direct to consumer (D2C) brand entrepreneur Chindera Soewandy (Chief Operating Officer), and Bukalapak alum and seasoned senior product manager Rudy Setyo Hartono (Chief Technology Officer).
They came together to start Wifkain recognizing from their past experiences both the persisting problems that can be solved and massive opportunity that can be unlocked by enabling digitalization in Indonesia’s textile industry.
“Our goal from day one with starting Wifkain has been to enable connectivity, transparency and efficiency for Indonesia’s textile industry. The platform we’re building connects direct buyers and sellers, disintermediating the long chain of middle-men and making the transaction journey cheaper, faster and less risky. There’s a lot of untapped growth that can be unlocked in this industry, which in its current state is already the biggest globally, by digitizing the value chain especially for the long-tail small to medium merchants,
“We’re building a digital breakthrough for this large, traditional industry that has been a long time coming and we’re excited to be leading the way in creating a more efficient industry and empowering more fashion brands and businesses,” said Wifkain Chief Executive Officer Sara Sofyan.
Since launching their platform in 2020, Wifkain has seen 11 times year-on-year growth with over 150 merchants across Java Island. Their platform currently provides customers with a one-day service level agreement (SLA) sourcing process, cut down from the traditional three weeks, cost-efficiency on their purchases up to 50 percent, pay-later options with tenor up to four months, and hassle-free logistics services.
The company aims to ultimately build a full-stack software platform that caters to all the needs of Indonesia’s textile supply chain.
With this funding round, they look to include order management and inventory management systems on their platform to enable order confirmations within hours, lower unfulfillment rate of orders to less than 5 percent, increase transparency on production tracking, and provide valuable demand analysis and predictions for suppliers.
“Fashion is becoming increasingly available and accessible online for a greater population in Southeast Asia through ecommerce marketplaces and social media platforms, but the upstream value chain in countries like Indonesia remain largely disconnected and fragmented. Sara and her team at Wifkain are well-positioned with their roots in the local industry to push the envelope and redefine the textile value chain in Indonesia. They have already made significant initial progress since launching their platforms and we’re excited that we are their early partners in this journey,” said Yinglan, Managing Partner of Insignia Ventures Partners.
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