Online furniture retailer, Fabelio, has announced that it has raised US$9 million in a Series C financing round which is still underway- boosting its total equity to US$20 million. The round was led by venture capitalists Appworks, Endeavour Catalysts, MDI Ventures and also saw participation from current investor Aavishkaar Capital, who previously led the startup’s Series B funding.
The Indonesian-based Fabelio was co-founded in 2015 by Christian Sutardi and Marshall Tegar Utoyo. Apart from e-tailing furniture on its platform, it also offers other services like interior design for office, homes, and business establishments. According to Fabelio, the company has secured more than 1,000 business-to-business projects for a variety of clients in the office and retail sector. At present, Fabelio has three domestic offices, 20 showrooms, and 430 employees.
The startup is looking to close its Series C round by end 2020 and is hoping to get more investors from the Southeast Asia region and China on board. Adding that the business is on a good trajectory “to be Ebitda positive by 2022,” Fabelio believes that it would be a good indicator for the company to be listed publicly.
In an interview with The Business Times, a representative from Fabelio elaborated that “We have not decided on the destination for the initial public offering (IPO), but the main consideration is the scale of the business. Of course, we will consider raising from private markets as well.”
The fresh capital will be used to spur the “development of Fabelio’s supply chain network of logistics hubs and experience centres”, which will then enable the company to enter new domestic markets such as those in Java and Bali by November this year. Commenting on the impact the pandemic has on businesses worldwide, Fabelio shared that “With the pandemic forcing our local showrooms to close, we focused extensively on pivoting towards online marketing, digital accessibility and education for the new normal.”
Further elaborating on Fabelio’s priorities, Utoyo (who is also holds the position of Chief Executive) shares that “Our main focus will be to improve our product categories and improve delivery times… Additionally, we are seeing more US and Chinese companies are 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.”
In support of Fabelio’s financing round, Winston Adi, Head of Investments at MDI Ventures comments that “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… We believe with this investment, Fabelio will be able to tap more business and consumers, and have its furniture reach every household and business across local and regional markets.”
With a calculated and focused plan in place, it seems that Fabelio is on the right track to successfully navigate the business through the post-COVID19 economy.