Advotics raised fresh funding from East Ventures to accelerate supply-chain digital transformation in Indonesia
March 2, 2021
Advotics, an Indonesia-based SaaS startup specializing in data-driven supply chain solutions for brands and SMEs, announced earlier today that it has raised US$2.75 million in a new funding round led by East Ventures.
Advotics is a technology company that helps brands understand, monitor, and manage their supply chain in Indonesia’s retail market by providing integrated platforms along the distribution line. Indonesia is a huge market for enterprise solutions. Advotics estimates that the Indonesian enterprise software market size has reached US$3 billion and expects this number to keep growing as more companies move towards digitalization.
The mobility restrictions caused by COVID-19 pandemic have raised many challenges for companies that are still dependent on salespeople in the field to provide information regarding inventory. They started to realize their need for a distribution and retailer management system, turning them to Advotics to help accelerate their supply chain transformation.
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“There are millions of manufacturing and distribution companies from small, medium, to big corporations operating in Indonesia. We believe that the US$3 billion enterprise software market in Indonesia will keep growing as more and more of these companies join the digital transformation,” said Boris Sanjaya, CEO and Co-founder of Advotics.
Advotics has worked with 70+ companies from various industries in Indonesia, including FMCG, automotive, and construction material companies. Their clients range from SMEs to multinational enterprises; among them are Exxonmobil, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser, Sampoerna, Kalbe and Mulia Group.
Currently, the company has 9 SaaS products that provide solutions across production, warehousing, and distribution. Utilizing QR codes printed on the product packaging, Advotics helps brands track inventory at every point along the distribution line, including information on sales forces activities and empty stock. The company also expanded its system by including solutions for inventory, routing, and collection.
“We are able to help principals and brands track inventory every step of the way up to the end of their supply chain, be it modern retailers, micro-merchants [warung], or individual resellers. Advotics is also able to solve deep-rooted supply chain problems that most companies face in their warehouse operations, delivery routing efficiency, and sales team dispatch with advanced technology. This is something that is impossible to obtain with a traditional or conventional supply chain model,” said Jeffry Tani, CPO and Co-founder of Advotics.
With its new funding, Advotics seeks to extend its footprint into the SME market by providing a one-stop integrated online-to-offline system. The fresh capital also will help the startup expand its sales team.
“We built a platform that connects brands to supply-chain outside the modern ecosystem. With our experience in providing enterprises with practical solutions using cutting-edge technology, we are confident in helping SMEs become more competitive with our ready-to-use, user-friendly, and connected digital solution,” said Hendi Chandi, CTO and Co-founder of Advotics.
According to Digital Indonesia 2021, there are over 202.6 million internet users in Indonesia, equating to 73.7% of the national population. The digital transformation in Indonesia has opened up a whole new way of living and working, helping consumers and businesses become more efficient and productive.
“Advotics team has not only persevered during the pandemic but has emerged stronger. We are confident that the funding will accelerate Advotics to achieve its mission to digitize Indonesia’s distribution and supply chain ecosystem,” said Willson Cuaca, Co-founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures.
Distribution Challenges in Indonesia
Recently, Advotics also released a whitepaper, Key Distribution Challenges in Indonesia, which delivers insights regarding how technology can help companies overcome pre-existing challenges in Indonesia’s supply chain. The report stated that Indonesia’s complex and multilayered supply chain is critical in ensuring economies of scale & efficiency in a diverse market with more than 270 million in population. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), more than 5 million small and medium manufacturers in Indonesia, including 38,000 big manufacturing companies, depend on a gigantic supply chain network consisting of 15 million small and medium distributors and around 288,000 large distribution companies.
Each principal and brand in Indonesia must work together with 30—200 distributors, field agents, and hundreds of thousands of retailers in finding the most optimized route to market. The World Bank projected the complex supply chain costing Indonesian manufacturers 25% of their sales revenue.
Advotics was founded by Boris Sanjaya, Hendi Chandi, and Jeffry Tani. Boris is an industrial engineer with extensive consultative experience in the Boston Consulting Group. Hendi is an ex-senior software developer in Amazon with 2 US patents. Jeffry holds a PhD in Manufacturing System & Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and previously worked in Schlumberger.
Having been raised in a family of general traders with an opportunity to work in global companies, the founders have first-hand knowledge about the complex supply chain in Indonesian retail industry and see how technology can solve those problems.