Astro raises US$60 million in series B

JAKARTA (IndoTelko) - Astro, a platform that enables 15-minute grocery delivery to customers, has raised US$60 million in Series B to continue its mission to make people’s life simpler and easier by developing a modern, on-demand platform.

The new round led by Accel, Citius and Tiger Global brings the total investment to more than US$90 million since Astro started in Sep 2021. Existing investors, AC Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Lightspeed and Sequoia Capital India also participated in the round. The funds raised will be used to reach more customers and enrich product capabilities to provide even better customer experience, as well as to expand the team size in 2022.

Astro 15-minutes delivery service is operating in nearly 50 locations across Jakarta Broader Metro Area (Jabodetabek). Since the last round Series A, the company revenue has grown more than 10x as well achieving much higher efficiency to deliver to customers. The team has also grown significantly with more than 200 people, whom they refer internally as Astronauts, while enabling WFA (Work From Anywhere) to accommodate flexibility during this COVID-19 environment.

The high-growth momentum is only possible with strong customers' love with total app downloads nearly 1 million times within the first six months and receiving high customer ratings in the market. Recent cohorts have also shown increasingly higher stickiness and usage over time, resulting in growing overall spending on the platform. The high frequency, high stickiness behaviour enables Astro to drive strong unit economics to achieve quality growth for the longest term.

For Astro, this is just the beginning as groceries in Indonesia is one of the biggest retail sectors, however digital penetration in the sector is one of the lowest - ~0.4% compared to the 10% penetration of e-commerce. With the pandemic driving digital adoption, the opportunity is large with e-grocery in Indonesia and is poised to become a ~US$6 billion opportunity by 2025. This represents a billion dollar opportunity being unlocked every single year.

“Our mission at Astro is to make people’s lives simpler and easier. Our Astronauts have continuously served customers when they need us the most, especially during the last Omicron COVID-19 spike where Indonesia experienced an unprecedented number of cases. We are excited to partner with Accel, Citius and Tiger Global to accelerate our meaningful mission. We will continuously focus on building a great company with great talents across Indonesia and delivering great customer experience.”  said Vincent Tjendra, Co-Founder & CEO at Astro.

Astro has also started collaborating with local businesses to launch its private label. The initial launch included coffees and breads, with seasonal treats such as sweet cakes and desserts in previous Ramadan. This initiative is an extension of Astro’s initial effort to collaborate with local farmers to have closer access to customers providing its hydroponic and fresh fruits, vegetables selections within 15 minutes.

In addition to the promise of 15-minute deliveries, Astro offers 1,500+ SKUs at competitive prices available 24/7 on the app. The app is built keeping accessibility for customers across all age groups in mind, ensuring that it is simple and straightforward for many first-time e-grocery shoppers.(es)