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FC Deals | August 2021
Favour Capital advises Desty on Pre-Series A funding
Desty, an Indonesia-based social commerce startup, announced that it has secured US$3.2 million in a pre-series A funding round today.
The investment was led by 5Y Capital (formerly known as Morningside Venture Capital), a top tier venture capital in China that has become the main backer of notable companies like Xiaomi and Kuaishou. Participating investors in this round are Fosun RZ Capital, January Capital, IN Capital, as well as East Ventures, who is also Desty's seed round investor.
Favour Capital, a China and Southeast Asia-focused TMT boutique investment bank acted as the financial advisor for this round.
The investment was led by 5Y Capital (formerly known as Morningside Venture Capital), a top tier venture capital in China that has become the main backer of notable companies like Xiaomi and Kuaishou. Participating investors in this round are Fosun RZ Capital, January Capital, IN Capital, as well as East Ventures, who is also Desty's seed round investor.
Favour Capital, a China and Southeast Asia-focused TMT boutique investment bank acted as the financial advisor for this round.
Desty is a digital platform that helps merchants, influencers, and creators easily build a single online destination to promote and sell their products. Users can create landing pages optimized for links in bios and build their own branded online store in just several minutes for free. Launched in October 2020, the startup has rapidly grown to become Indonesia's leading social commerce tool with hundreds of thousands of users.
Led by Mulyono Xu (CEO) and Bill Wang (COO) - both experienced founders with extensive backgrounds in e-commerce and VC - Desty will utilize the new funding primarily for team expansion and user acquisition. "We have our laser focus on serving online merchants and users in the ecosystem. We only have one goal, which is to make sure they can grow their business efficiently. Our team has over 15 years’ experience with merchants and their digital operations, which we believe is key to the growth of the economy in Indonesia. We can see more dynamics is happening in our market and we are confident we are aiming for the right audience of users to serve," said Mulyono, Co-Founder and CEO of Desty.
"Desty is creating a platform which enables merchants to go digital in five minutes. We have invested in similar companies in India and China, and these solutions create immense value. With a solid team behind Desty, we have no doubt it will change the whole landscape of small medium enterprises in Indonesia and Southeast Asia," said Tej Kapoor, Co-Executive President of Fosun RZ Capital.
“The Internet is all about links. Great Internet companies build links. They link people to people, link online to offline, and link demand with supply. In the e-commerce world, there is a massive opportunity in linking social and content with e-commerce transactions. We have seen this great power when social and content meets e-commerce in China. We believe Desty can become the linking infrastructure in Southeast Asia’s e-commerce world and could contribute to a better ecosystem where social, content, and e-commerce transactions link closer and smoother,” said Hanson Hu, VP of Investment at 5Y Capital.
"The Southeast Asia ecommerce landscape is increasingly driven by social media and content. This proliferation of the ecommerce industry is something that we have seen happening in China couple years ago and it can be seen that the trend is also happening in the local market. Thus, it is really a great opportunity to work alongside Desty who is providing the supporting infrastructure for the sellers and influencers. We believe the current fundraising from top investors from China and Southeast Asia will boost the growth of social media-driven ecommerce." said Eric Fang, Founding Partner at Favour Capital.
Led by Mulyono Xu (CEO) and Bill Wang (COO) - both experienced founders with extensive backgrounds in e-commerce and VC - Desty will utilize the new funding primarily for team expansion and user acquisition. "We have our laser focus on serving online merchants and users in the ecosystem. We only have one goal, which is to make sure they can grow their business efficiently. Our team has over 15 years’ experience with merchants and their digital operations, which we believe is key to the growth of the economy in Indonesia. We can see more dynamics is happening in our market and we are confident we are aiming for the right audience of users to serve," said Mulyono, Co-Founder and CEO of Desty.
"Desty is creating a platform which enables merchants to go digital in five minutes. We have invested in similar companies in India and China, and these solutions create immense value. With a solid team behind Desty, we have no doubt it will change the whole landscape of small medium enterprises in Indonesia and Southeast Asia," said Tej Kapoor, Co-Executive President of Fosun RZ Capital.
“The Internet is all about links. Great Internet companies build links. They link people to people, link online to offline, and link demand with supply. In the e-commerce world, there is a massive opportunity in linking social and content with e-commerce transactions. We have seen this great power when social and content meets e-commerce in China. We believe Desty can become the linking infrastructure in Southeast Asia’s e-commerce world and could contribute to a better ecosystem where social, content, and e-commerce transactions link closer and smoother,” said Hanson Hu, VP of Investment at 5Y Capital.
"The Southeast Asia ecommerce landscape is increasingly driven by social media and content. This proliferation of the ecommerce industry is something that we have seen happening in China couple years ago and it can be seen that the trend is also happening in the local market. Thus, it is really a great opportunity to work alongside Desty who is providing the supporting infrastructure for the sellers and influencers. We believe the current fundraising from top investors from China and Southeast Asia will boost the growth of social media-driven ecommerce." said Eric Fang, Founding Partner at Favour Capital.
Article adapted from: https://www.techinasia.com/desty-pre-series-a-funding