Indonesian- based bookkeeping app for micro, small and medium businesses has raised an undisclosed amount of pre- Series A funding led by Quona Capital.
Joined in the funding round are existing investors East Ventures, AC Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, Michael Sampoerna and Snapdeal founders.
The new round comes just three months after BukuWarung secured seed funding which brings the company’s total funding to an “eight- figure” sum.
Launched last year by co- founders Abhinay Peddisetty and Chinmay Chauhan, the startup is an accounting application that helps micro business owners to manage cash and credit transactions. Users can also get notification of debt bills sent automatically making business owners who have used the BukuWarung application receive debt payments 3 times faster than the conventional method.
Users can also monitor cash flow easily because the application can be used to record various types of transactions including credit, expenses, and sales which can then be presented in the form of financial statements. At present, more than 600,000 traders in around 750 locations in Indonesia have used the BukuWarung application.
Co- founder of the startup Abhinay Peddisetty stated that manual recording occurs because micro business owners have difficulty accessing services to banks. “Our vision is to build a digital infrastructure for 60 million MSMEs in Indonesia, which begins with a simple application for digital financial records and payments,” he added.
“We come from humble micro-merchant families ourselves and understand the challenges these businesses face in managing cash flow and accessing credit to grow their businesses. Our product is designed to work seamlessly for merchants who may not have a lot of space on their devices, or have lower-end devices or less data connectivity,” said BukuWarung co-founder Chinmay Chauhan.
According to co-founder Abhinay Peddisetty, the backing by Quona, which has experience investing in companies serving micro-businesses across emerging markets, including IndiaMART, Neon (Brazil), and Yoco (Africa), will help BukuWarung achieve its mission to build a digital infrastructure for 60 million MSMEs in Indonesia.
Despite a partial lockdown in Indonesia from April to June, BukuWarung continued to grow because most of its users sell daily necessities, like groceries. In smaller cities and villages, merchants often offer credit lines because their customers’ cash flow is very tight, and many do not have a regular monthly paycheck, Chauhan said. “Everyone is buying and selling on credit, that is something we validated in our research.”
BukuWarung is the only Indonesian startup that was selected as a participant in the YC Combinator Class of YC S20. On August 24, 2020, BukuWarung will meet hundreds of investors and global media on Y Combinator Demo Day. Xendit and Payfazz are two other companies from Indonesia that have participated in the acceleration program.
