B2B eCommerce Startup Mbiz Secures Series A

B2B eCommerce platform Mbiz has raised Series A financing, reports Monday (March 27) said.

Mbiz, based in Indonesia, launched about a year ago and recently raised new financing. While the company did not disclose how much it raised, COO and cofounder Ryn Hermawan told e27 that he estimates the company’s valuation to be about $75 million.

Tokyo Century Corporation led the funding, reports added.

“This is a happy news for a company that has been operating effectively for eight months,” he told the publication, adding that Mbiz also recorded positive cash flow since its launch.

Mbiz provides a digital procurement platform for B2B and B2G transactions. The company offers a digital catalogue and targets blue-chip companies, according to reports.

“Our earlier milestone is that we have managed to achieve the kind of MVP what we wanted to,” said Hermawan. “But the other milestone is that our product evolves much faster than we expect it to be. Apart from providing procurement solutions, it turned out that we have also impacted the finance and other aspects of the company’s operation.”

Indonesia’s eCommerce market overall is a growing one, with Alibaba’s Jack Ma recently asked to help the local government guide the development of the industry there. But FinTechs are facing new regulations in the country after the Indonesian Financial Services Authority introduced new rules this year that introduce a minimum threshold of about $75,000. FinTechs must have this much cash in order to register with the authority, as well as have a minimum capital requirement, to apply for a business license.

But that same authority is also launching a regulatory sandbox for startups in the country, while the Bank of Indonesia is also exploring the launch of its own FinTech office to facilitate networking for startups in the sector.