Dropezy Pockets Pre-Series A Funding of IDR 35.5 Billion

Dropezy startup just announced a pre-series A funding of 2.5 million USD (approximately IDR 35.5 billion). This funding was led by Forge Ventures with participation from other investors such as Tekton Ventures, Nordstar, Next Billion Ventures, and several angel investors.

Through this funding, the company will launch its newest expansion solution “quick commerce” which offers instant delivery of 20 minutes to the location after ordering. 

They will also expand the micro cloud store to a dozen at various points throughout the Greater Jakarta area.

In an official statement, Dropezy Co-founder & COO Nitesh Chellaram said, the ongoing pandemic is changing the way consumers shop for daily necessities to online platforms.

But existing online grocery services focus on minimizing costs or circling the existing offline supply chain. There are aspects that they have left behind and have not had time to resolve to satisfy the consumer experience when shopping online, namely faster delivery.

Offering the Most Convenient Way to Shop for Grocery

Dropezy comes with the vision to offer the most convenient way for people to get groceries. “This company was built from the ground up to satisfy urban consumers who demand convenience and speed that allows consumers to order daily necessities in bite-size without a minimum order, with the cheapest delivery rates in Indonesia,” said Nitesh, Thursday (23/9).

He continued, with this vision, the company now has 60% of repeat customers who are still shopping at Dropezy after six months. According to him, these customers like the consistency and freshness of the Dropezy product selection and reasonable prices.

In its business operations, Dropezy controls inventory and logistics in-house with a committed fleet of riders allocating at least 6 hours a day for small package deliveries.

The presence of this quick commerce solution is also present because of the needs of Dropezy consumers who want to send their orders faster than now.

“If you’re making coffee and realize you’re out of milk, Dropezy will give it to you before your coffee gets cold. We are excited to partner with investors who share our vision and customer obsession.”

To support the company’s vision, Dropezy currently has one micro fulfillment center (cloud store) which is assisted by a total team of 100 people to serve next-day delivery.

To realize the company’s ambition to provide 20-minute delivery to the buyer’s location, Dropezy plans to open up to a dozen cloud stores by the end of this year.

Investors are Enthusiastic to Collaborate with Dropezy

Dropezy Co-founder & CEO Chandni Chainani added, “Expanding from 1 warehouse to 10 is very challenging, and there was no way we could have done this without the 18 months of learning and insight we gained from our customers.”

Forge Ventures partner Kaspar Hidayat said, his party was enthusiastic to partner further with Dropezy to revolutionize the online grocery industry.

According to him, current players are not solving important problems and that is why penetration in this segment is much lower than in the e-commerce industry.

“And Dropezy changed all that. As Dropezy grows, this will allow customers to buy groceries and daily necessities on time, and running out of something essential will be a thing of the past.”

The online grocery industry has fierce competition, but still has high growth space because its penetration is still concentrated in big cities.

A report from Statista said, last year the online grocery market share in this country only reached 0.3%, it is predicted that it will increase by 20 basis points to 0.5% in 2022.

The pandemic that hit the country is said to be one of the main factors that triggered the increase in the popularity of online grocery services among consumers.