PT Adi Sarana Armada (IDX: ASSA), or logistics platform AnterAja’s parent company, received funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The value is at $31 million or around 451 billion Rupiah. Previously, that consortium under the World Bank also invested in insurtech startup PasarPolis earlier this year.
The investment is obtained through the purchase of convertible bonds, it is debt securities that can be exchanged into shares at an agreed ratio. In this case, the bonds will be listed on the capital market for two years without interest — through a rights issue by ASSA.
One of the company’s post-funding main focus is to improve its logistics business and transportation network connectivity. AnterAja was particularly mentioned, as its development is expected to provide benefits for MSMEs amidst the rapid growth of the e-commerce business in Indonesia.
AnterAja was introduced by ASSA Rent in February 2019, as a business unit in the last mile logistics sector. The business unit alone has been established since August 2018 in a joint venture with logistics services from China SF Express and PT Spirit Bambu Runcing which shares are owned by William Tanuwijaya.
Then, it was stated that ASSA became the majority shareholder of 55%, SF Express 20%, and Spirit of Bambu Runcing 25%.
Focusing on serving the e-commerce sector, AnterAja has several logistics options, from same day delivery, next day delivery, and regular. It is said they already have around 15 thousand couriers and are able to send around 700 thousand packages per day.
ASSA alone is part of the Triputra Group conglomerate. It also oversees 10 companies related to rental of automotive assets and logistics. Apart from AnterAja, businesses that are close to digital are car rental platform ASSA Mobility (ShareFleet for B2B and ShareCar for B2C) and car marketplace Caroline.
Moreover, Triputra Group also involved in Waresix’ pre-series A funding in 2018. The company also invested in Kedai Sayur the following year. The rounds for the two startups were led by East Ventures.
Logistics investment
With the same hypothesis, investors are flocking added logistics business to their portfolios. The flow of funding for this startup has also increased consistently from year to year – including in the midst of economic uncertainty due to the pandemic.
From 2019 to the first half of 2021, there have been 16 funding rounds involving startups in the logistics sector. Of the 13 rounds of information citing their value, thetotal equity investment valued at $455 million. The trend is increasing in terms of funding quality from year to year.
The types of logistics services provided are quite diverse, from first mile, last mile, fleet management, aggregator, and others. Some players are focus on shipping at a certain level, for example covering import-export needs by providing access to a fleet of ships or aircraft cargo.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian