Desty raises US$ 5 million in an extended pre-series A round from East Ventures

Desty, an Indonesia-based E-Commerce solution platform startup, announced that it has secured US$ 5 million of extended pre-series A round led by East Ventures (Growth fund) with participation from Jungle Ventures and returning investors Fosun RZ and January Capital. This fresh capital will strengthen Desty’s balance sheet after the company raised US$ 3.2 million of pre-series A funding round led by 5Y Capital in July 2021. Desty will use the funds raised to accelerate the product development and merchant acquisition as well as launch innovative products in the next few months.

Having started as a digital platform for merchants, influencers, and creators to easily build a single online destynation to promote and sell their products in October 2020, Desty has rapidly grown with a hyperlocal focus on its business model and product offerings. Desty offers easy-to-use platforms, namely Desty Page and Desty Store, for users to grow in the digital environment. It provides tools, services and applications, most of which are free — no setup fee and no monthly subscription. Users can set up a landing page in only 5 minutes without hassle.

“Desty was born during COVID-19 — when massive digitalization happened. Merchants, influencers, and creators have resorted to digital platforms to have a digital presence as it has become of utmost importance in order to thrive. Soon, we would have gathered 1 million creators and merchants using our platform. Some of our own key merchants have Desty as their top one sales channel compared to other marketplaces,” said Mulyono Xu, Co-Founder and CEO of Desty.

In Indonesia, more digital merchants are getting tech-savvy as they embrace digital tools to engage with their customers. It is not surprising that Indonesia’s e-commerce sector experienced double-digit GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting US$ 52 billion, and is projected to grow until US$ 104 billion in 2025.

With this huge opportunity, Desty has been at the forefront of riding the wave in the industry. The company has experienced a robust growth in traffic and GMV of 60% and 50% respectively (month on month) for the past 6 months.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures says, “We are happy to have supported Desty’s team in accelerating the evolution of the commerce and social media industry since day one. Desty is one of the fastest growing startups in this particular area, and what’s more impressive is that the majority of that growth has come from organic, word of mouth acquisition. With its exciting product and business growth, we believe that Desty will create more values for Indonesian online sellers and content creators.” 

“Jungle Ventures is proud to partner with Desty as it enables instant access to a simplified and globally competitive tech stack to SMBs to accelerate the digital future of their businesses. The prior deep and diversified experience of the founders and founding team creating some of the most impactful commerce enablement products across China and South East Asia over the last decade shows in the thoughtfulness of the products they are creating, and the rapid customer traction they are seeing,” said Yash Sankrityayan, Principal of Jungle Ventures. 

“We are beyond happy to have been backed by notable investors who believe in Desty’s vision as Indonesia’s leading social-commerce tool. This funding marks the 3rd fundraising in a year since our seed funding round in November 2020. With over 60 people in Desty’s team, we seek for new talents to create more meaningful impacts to millions of Indonesians in enhancing their digital presence,” added Mulyono.

To add, about 50% of Desty’s users are online merchants, while 30% are creators or influencers. Their online merchants include DAMN I Love Indonesia, Luna Habit & Nama Beauty by Luna Maya, Kurumi, Janji Jiwa, Haus, while their creators are Dagelan, Greysia Polii (Indonesian Olympics Gold Medalist), Choky Sitohang, Tahi Lalats (Mindblowon Studio), Daisuke Botak, Marcella Eteng, Filda Salim, FootNoteStories, and many more.