The digital industry in Southeast Asia with the greatest adoption rate is food delivery. As individuals were compelled to stay at home due to the epidemic, the category saw significant growth. The whole region, including Indonesia, was following this path.
However, many people continue to rely on street-side sellers for their inexpensive meals despite the popularity of applications like GoFood and GrabFood.
The issue: Food stalls frequently differ in terms of product quality and hygienic practices, and vendors typically only provide one type of food item on their menus.
Uena, a local food business, attempted to address this issue by setting up an online kitchen network that can provide these meals straight to clients. It targets lower- and middle-income groups, including office workers, college students, staff at convenience stores, and food delivery app couriers.
Uena recently secured an unknown amount of seed money in a round that was co-led by East Ventures and IDN Media. The company intends to utilize the new financing to expand the number of kitchens in the Jakarta region.
The company has sought to boost kitchen efficiency in order to keep its cuisine inexpensive — each of the meals it sells has a US$1 price tag — by using cooking robots and handling last-mile deliveries. Additionally, it has created its own app and makes it possible for users to place orders using WhatsApp conversation, which is now the startup’s most popular method of placing orders.
