According to reports, Southeast Asia’s wholesalers and distributors face significant challenges because of fragmented networks, difficult topography, and a reliance on intermediaries, according to Yann Schuermans, founder of Baskit.
Due to this fragmentation, it is challenging for businesses to establish seamless, cross-border supply chains, which causes delays, higher costs, and inefficiencies.
Baskit is an Indonesia-based B2B e-commerce startup that was established in 2022 with the goal of addressing these issues.
It recently completed a seed round led by Betatron Venture Group for a total of US$3.3 million. Along with angel investors like Michael Sampoerna, Forge Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Orvel Ventures, Investible, and DS/X Ventures also took part. This comes after the pre-seed round of US$1.5 million that Baskit announced in March.
Although the company’s current operations are primarily in West Java, it has plans to grow into the Greater Jakarta area.
According to Schuermans, Baskit views intermediaries who act as margin-grabbers as essential members of the supply chain infrastructure rather than demonizing them.
The business collaborates with distributors and wholesalers, primarily in the fast-moving consumer goods industry.
To help these partners reach a larger customer base and generate additional sales, Baskit connects them with new stores and untapped coverage areas. In exchange, Baskit retains a portion of the revenue produced by its platform.
The start-up also provides software that aids in communication, order processing, inventory management, and sales analytics for wholesalers and distributors. This makes it possible for Baskit to gather and profit from information on transactions, sales trends, and client behavior.
By the middle of the following year, Baskit hopes to become profitable. Additionally, it anticipates “healthy” gross profit margins comparable to those of other software-as-a-service companies, according to Schuermans.
Despite receiving significant funding, players in the B2B e-commerce space continue to face operational problems. Khatabook in India and Lummo in Indonesia are two examples.
