Evermos, an Indonesia-based social commerce platform, has successfully raised $39 million in its Series C funding round.

Evermos said in a statement on Thursday that the funding is led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — a member of the World Bank group — and IFC Emerging Asia Fund, LP, managed by IFC Asset Management Company.

The round was also followed by returning partners such as Jungle Ventures, Shunwei Capital, UOB Venture Management, and Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi.

This funding round also saw investment from new partners, SWC Global, Endeavor Catalyst, and Uni-President Asset Holdings.

Evermos said it will channel this latest funding towards strengthening its reseller network by deepening penetration in Java and expanding to Sumatera, making it faster for brands to reach more of Indonesia’s growing population in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Evermos said it will continue driving its efforts of empowering local brands to make a positive impact on the Indonesian economy, expanding services across the retail value chain to support their continued growth.

In addition to growing its reseller network, Evermos will continue to spearhead upskilling efforts for resellers to expand their customer base beyond personal network through digital advertising.

It is noted that the company saw 18 times higher sales of resellers who leverage digital tools compared to those relying on personal network only.

Further, the proceeds will fuel the development of Evermos’ array of AI-powered tools and solutions for resellers to understand consumers better through customer relationship management.

With this latest funding round, Evermos said it remains firmly on track towards its mission of elevating local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) to make a positive impact on the national economy and beyond.

“We have stayed true to our commitment to supporting local brands since day one,

“In the process of solving the logistical issues Indonesian brands face due to the country’s unique geographical and economic challenges, we have realized that brands face diverse challenges beyond distribution,” said Ghufron Mustaqim, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Evermos.

According to him, the firm will thus continue to harness innovation to connect local brands and customers in lower-tier cities more efficiently.

“This achievement reflects the trust of our investors in executing our mission and their dedication to empowering vulnerable communities by providing them with a sustainable and flexible source of income through our connected distribution network and services for commerce,” he added.

Since being founded in November 2018, Evermos has been dedicated to solving the complex challenges impacting local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), which account for 99.9 percent of businesses in Indonesia, according to the Republic’s central bank.

Though MSMEs contribute to 60.3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), not more than 0.5 percent are able to scale up, in part because of the logistical challenges that abound in Indonesia’s market.

With more than 17,000 islands that span 5,100 kilometres from west to east, the Indonesian market’s unique geography makes nationwide expansion costly and time-consuming, especially in lower-tier cities.

Evermos has thus been committed to mitigating these logistical challenges since its inception, in order to ensure a level-playing field for all Indonesians, regardless of geographic location, income level, or gender.

This includes establishing direct relationships with local brands to bring them closer to consumers and offering comprehensive solutions for each brand’s specific commerce needs.

By joining Evermos’ ecosystem, brands are able to tap into 500 cities, where its 160,000 resellers can operate without requiring capital-intensive resources.

Evermos claimed it is Indonesia’s largest social commerce network, with 160,000 monthly transacting resellers as of January 2023.

Founded in November 2018 by Ghufron Mustaqim, Arip Tirta, Iqbal Muslimin, and Ilham Taufiq, Evermos has experienced tremendous growth.

Since the pandemic, Evermos has shown 17 times in gross merchandise value (GMV) growth from Financial Year 2020 to Financial Year 2022.

“Scaling up tech-enabled social commerce platforms such as Evermos can spur economic growth and make a huge contribution towards unlocking access to markets, creating jobs, and lifting prosperity for millions of MSMEs and entrepreneurs, many of whom are women and are the backbone of Indonesia’s economy,” said Randall Riopelle, IFC Acting Country Manager for Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

“Our investment in Evermos will not only promote shared prosperity and financial and digital inclusion, but it will also contribute significantly to further advance the rapidly ever-growing digital economy in Indonesia,” he said.

Yash Sankrityayan, Managing Partner at Jungle Ventures, said the firm has backed Evermos for the third time since leading the Series A round in 2019.

“Since that time, Evermos has established the largest distribution network of consumer discretionary products across Indonesia while also adding meaningful household income to hundreds of thousands of Indonesians living in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns,” he said.

Wendi Xiang, Vice President of SWC Global said, Evermos has clearly demonstrated their ability to meaningfully impact the economy over the past four years.

“As SWC Global focuses on growing Asia’s start-ups across multiple sectors such as mobile internet, deep technology and consumer internet of thing (IoT), we have found that Evermos delivers impressive growth with solid business fundamentals that have brought positive social impact to resellers in Indonesia’s lower-tier cities and rural areas,

“We are confident that our investment in Evermos will drive meaningful change for generations of the future while creating value for stakeholders,” he added.

UOB Venture Management leads $30M Series B in Indonesia ‘halal’ social commerce platform Evermos