- Fabelio is one of Indonesia’s top furniture brands. It has successfully raised US$9 million as part of its ongoing Series C Round, led by AppWorks and MDI Ventures and Endeavour Catalyst.
- Funding will be used to accelerate its domestic presence within Indonesia and Southeast Asia, as well as strengthen its technological and supply chain capabilities.
- Since its launch in 2015, Fabelio has established three offices and 20 experience centres in Indonesia, spearheaded by 82% year-on-year growth in 2019.
Indonesia’s leading new online furniture retailer, Fabelio, announced that it has successfully raised US$9 million as part of its Series C round, bringing its total funding to more than US$20 million. The first close of the round was led by Taiwanese venture firm, AppWorks, Endeavour Catalyst and Telkom Group-backed MDI Ventures. Existing investor, Aavishkaar Capital also contributed to the fund.
This round of financing will further accelerate the development of Fabelio’s supply chain network of logistics hubs and experience centres to support its domestic expansion into new regions and cities within Indonesia such as Java and Bali by November 2020. As part of this latest round, AppWork’s Partner, Jessica Liu will be joining Fabelio’s Board of Directors.
“After five years of scaling up and defining the fundamentals of our ‘new retail’ strategy, we are ready to accelerate our growth with this Series C round,” said Marshall Tegar Utoyo, CEO and Co-Founder at Fabelio. “We are grateful to our new investors from AppWorks, Endeavour Catalyst and MDI Ventures for their support and global expertise. Our main focus will be to improve our product categories and improve delivery times. On top of that, we will expand our sphere of influence across Indonesia by opening new warehouses and experience centres in new cities. Additionally, we are seeing more US and Chinese companies setting up operations in Indonesia, opening up opportunities for global trade and manufacturing. These market trends, combined with their efforts will enable us to win a larger market share in this exciting US$6.7 billion home furniture market in Indonesia.”
Founded in 2015, Fabelio offers well-crafted and high-quality furniture for the Indonesian market from local designers at attractive prices, offering free same-day delivery services and a 2-year warranty period for all its products. The company also positions itself as a bespoke B2B service for properties, providing a free interior design consultancy for those seeking to furnish homes, office spaces, hotels or restaurants. Since its US$6.5 million Series B fundraise in 2018, Fabelio has experienced exponential growth in Indonesia, boasting three domestic offices and 20 experience centres in strategic areas such as Jabodetabek and Bandung with a headcount of 430 staff.
To date, Fabelio has experienced 82% year-on-year growth in customer acquisition, with more than 1,000 B2B projects ranging from residential properties such as houses and apartments, offices to retail brands such as Citraland, BRI and Jakarta MRT. Its product shipments have now reached more than 750 sub-districts throughout Java. Its unit economics have been positive since late 2017 and are on track to target profitability by 2022.
“Over the last couple of years, the trend has been crystal clear: the contribution of online sales in every vertical has been increasing in Indonesia: be it electronics, fashion, groceries or furniture. This trend has been massively accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, we recorded our highest online sales ever with figures surpassing those experienced during Indonesia’s #1 online shopping day Harbolnas on 12/12. The future of e-commerce is brighter than ever, and the simultaneous ramp-up in payments and infrastructure will support this development.” said Christian Sutardi, Co-Founder at Fabelio.
“Fabelio is building a locally relevant furniture brand for a generation of digitally native Indonesians,” said Jessica Liu, Partner at AppWorks. “In just five years, they’ve introduced world-class furniture products that have been adopted by a growing segment of Indonesians and businesses. Their customer-first value shapes a better shopping experience and becomes a category-transforming business. We are excited to join Fabelio on their mission to shape the future of Indonesian’s furniture industry.”
Winston Adi, Head of Investments at MDI Ventures, said, “We are delighted to be part of Fabelio and their stellar leadership team. As businesses are turning digital, it is very important to blur the lines between physical and digital, maintain efficiency with data, and tackle the relevant market with a highly scalable business model to gain the market lead. Fabelio is set in a unique position to check all the boxes as the perfect example to create a digital innovation in the retail industry. We believe with this investment, Fabelio will be able to tap on more business and consumers and have their furniture reachable to every household and business across local and regional markets. MDI will provide continuous support as they continue to bring innovative solutions to the market and execute its long term vision.”
EN Venkat, Partner at Aavishkaar Capital said, “Fabelio has deep networks with artisans and manufacturers from local furniture-making centres in Indonesia. Their tremendous effort in empowering Indonesian Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the inspiration behind our involvement in their exciting omnichannel furniture business, and we look forward to our continued involvement with Fabelio.”
Fabelio’s primary focus for 2020 will be increasing market share through the hiring of key engineering talent, continued online marketing efforts, product development and operational improvements. It is actively seeking regional investors in Southeast Asia and China to conclude its Series C round by end-2020, enabling Fabelio to deliver on its mission of offering high-quality furniture and outstanding customer service, and in doing so, winning the trust of Indonesian customers.
“Our end-goal was always to provide a better customer experience. In the two years, we see ourselves as a home & living destination that can provide our customers with all products and services related to their furnishing and interior needs. A significant portion of the funding will be invested in technology, which includes scaling up our current team of 40 engineers,” added Sutardi.
