Indonesian trucking services platform Ritase has closed a Series A funding round of $8.5 million led by Golden Gate Ventures to propel its growth and expand into new markets.
Other investors that participated in the round are Jafco Asia and ZWC Ventures, as well as existing backers including Insignia Ventures, Beenext and Skystar Capital, Ritase said in a statement.
Founded by Iman Kusnadi and David Samuel in 2017, Ritase operates as a digital logistics service for trucks with a mobile and desktop application that connects shippers and transporters and provides real-time monitoring and reporting for the shipment process.
The company covers shipments in all parts of Indonesia and currently claims to facilitate tens of thousands of shipments per month, with more than 7,500 trucks, 500 transporters, and 7,000 partner drivers connected to its app.
In its two years of establishment, the company says it has already on-boarded brands such as Nestle, Unilever, Universal Ribena Corporation (URC), Japfa, Signify/Phillips Lighting, Lotte and Perfetti Van Melle.
“We are confident that the combination of the investors, including financial institutions and strategic partner, will support Ritase’s growth and help us go international,” Ritase founder and CEO Iman Kusnadi had told DEALSTREETASIA in a company event recently.
Aside from the international expansion, Ritase says it will provide supply chain financing to local transporters and affordable spare parts and trucks through a group buying platform.
Prior to the series A investment, the company had raised seed and pre-series A funding amounting to $4.4 million from Insignia Ventures Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, Beenext, Skystar Capital, Agung venture capital and several angel investors.
In Indonesia, Ritase competes with Kargo Technologies, a trucking logistics startup co-founded by former Uber Indonesia country manager Tiger Fang. The company recently closed a $7.6-million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital India and joined by Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick’s 10100 Fund.