JAKARTA, 28 August 2020 – E-commerce enabler SIRCLO announced the closing of a US$6 million (approximately Rp88 billion) Series B funding round. Participating investors included East Ventures, OCBC NISP Ventura, Skystar Capital, Sinar Mas Land, and others.

“We are very grateful to the investors who participated in our Series B funding round. We are using this investment to strengthen our internal infrastructure and ensure that it remains stable as more businesses enter e-commerce, including the clients who have placed their trust in us,” said Brian Marshal, CEO and Founder of SIRCLO.

In addition to opening a new fulfilment centre, SIRCLO continued to enhance the services and features of SIRCLO Store. Through these improvements, SIRCLO Store was positioned to provide a more integrated platform across SIRCLO’s digital offerings and sales channels, including brand.com, marketplaces, and chat commerce.

Brian noted that the Series B funding came at an opportune time, as SIRCLO was operating in a strategic sector with strong potential for further growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) recorded a 400% increase in online shopping transactions. Meanwhile, the SIRCLO Insights E-Commerce Report 2020 estimated that 12 million new e-commerce users had emerged since the pandemic began, with 40% saying they intended to continue relying on e-commerce even after the pandemic ended.

Brands that had previously relied on traditional sales channels were also being encouraged to expand online in order to reach consumers more effectively. As a specialist in managing brands’ online sales channels, SIRCLO was therefore well positioned to support businesses in strengthening their performance during the pandemic.

“SIRCLO is in the right place at the right time during this pandemic. With the capabilities it had already built before the crisis, SIRCLO is helping accelerate the digital transformation taking place across Indonesia,” said Willson Cuaca, Co-founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures.

Through SIRCLO Commerce, SIRCLO continued to serve as a bridge between retail brands and consumers by managing the entire online sales process, from inventory management and order processing to product delivery and customer service. This enabled brands to rely on SIRCLO as an end-to-end solution for selling online across marketplaces, chat commerce channels such as WhatsApp Business, and their own websites. Throughout the pandemic, SIRCLO also continued operating its fulfilment centre facilities to ensure products could be distributed effectively.

“Our investment in SIRCLO is intended to support the company’s mission of helping business owners in Indonesia enter the digital market and contribute to the development of e-commerce. Businesses of all sizes often lack the expertise required to transition from offline to online,” said Darryl Ratulangi, Managing Director of OCBC NISP Ventura. “By collaborating with SIRCLO, they can access the support needed to build websites, manage multiple marketplace platforms, and handle logistics, allowing business owners to focus more fully on strengthening their brands. OCBC NISP Ventura believes this is the kind of support businesses need to enter e-commerce and, in turn, contribute to the overall growth of Indonesia’s e-commerce industry.”

“As a leading e-commerce enabler in Indonesia, SIRCLO is committed to continuously providing the best services and solutions to help brands grow their businesses online. Through this funding, we will continue to strengthen our capabilities and expand our reach so we can support even more brands across Indonesia,” said Brian Marshal. “We also remain optimistic that online shopping transactions will continue to grow in the future, even after the pandemic ends.”

Lakukan Inisiatif Sosial dan Aksi Merger

Social Initiatives and Merger Activities

Local businesses were expected to play an important role in supporting Indonesia’s economy in the months ahead. SIRCLO supported East Ventures, one of its early investors and a participant in the Series B funding round, in developing the “Indonesia Pasti Bisa Jaga APD” initiative. The initiative aimed to support the equitable distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) across Indonesia and help prevent shortages among frontline healthcare workers. To support this effort, East Ventures also partnered with local SMEs to produce PPE for distribution.

In May 2020, SIRCLO also completed a merger with ICUBE, an e-commerce technology and solutions agency. The merger brought together thousands of clients from both companies and combined their respective strengths to help more businesses and brands undertake digital transformation more effectively and efficiently.

Following the merger, Muliadi Jeo, Founder and President of ICUBE, assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SIRCLO. Former CTO Leontius Adhika Pradhana transitioned into the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO). In June, SIRCLO also welcomed Danang Cahyono as its new Chief Operations Officer (COO). Danang previously served as Managing Director at Westcon-Comstor Indonesia and brought more than 20 years of professional experience, including roles at several Fortune 500 companies in the retail industry.

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About SIRCLO

Founded in 2013, SIRCLO is a leading e-commerce solutions company in Indonesia that helps brands sell online. SIRCLO offers four business solutions: SIRCLO Store, SIRCLO Connexi, SIRCLO Chat, and SIRCLO Commerce. SIRCLO Store is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables small and medium-sized local businesses to build template-based online stores. SIRCLO Connexi provides an interactive dashboard for managing sales across multiple e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. Meanwhile, SIRCLO Chat offers a conversational commerce platform through an interactive dashboard integrated with the WhatsApp Business API. Through its end-to-end channel management solution, SIRCLO Commerce supports enterprise brands in expanding into online distribution channels.

In May 2020, SIRCLO officially merged with ICUBE, a Magento Premier Solutions Partner in Indonesia, bringing together e-commerce technology development capabilities and SWIFT, an omnichannel e-commerce builder. SIRCLO Store had powered more than 100,000 websites and supported 3,000 brands in growing their businesses online, including ATS The Label, Benscrub, Evete Naturals, Namaste Organic, This Is April, and Heytimmy Kidswear. SIRCLO was also trusted by dozens of clients representing more than 200 leading brands, including Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, KAO, L’Oréal, Eiger, and Levi’s. Headquartered at Green Office Park 1, The Breeze, BSD, Tangerang, SIRCLO had 500 employees, with representatives based in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. For more information about SIRCLO, visit www.sirclo.com.