Preserving tradition

• CEO of 500-backed e-commerce platform Bukalapak, Rachmat Kaimuddin, was interviewed on CNBC’s ‘Make It’ segment about the business of bringing street stalls online.

• Rachmat explains in Indonesia, many of them operate from their own home, selling basic goods such as soap and coffee. However, as the economy grew, they got left behind. Bukalapak was designed to help modernize millions of such businesses — known as warung.
• When the pandemic hit, the startup rode the surge in digital adoption, recording a 130% jump in transactions in 2020. It now serves 13.5 million micro, small, and medium enterprises and 100 million customers.
• Currently, the startup’s estimated valuation sits between US$2.5 billion and US$3 billion.
• He also revealed that Bukalapak may be gearing up for an initial public offering later in 2021.
• “Having access to capital markets is good to have for a growing company,” he said. “We are not to say anything until we have proof. But, of course, this is something that we understand to be important, and we are preparing ourselves to be IPO-ready.”
• Watch the full interview here.

Reaching new heights

• 500-backed Australian rocket company, Gilmour Space Technologies, started the new year with a bang, setting a world record for hybrid rockets.
• The startup completed a successful hotfire of the world’s largest single-port hybrid rocket engine, ahead of its first commercial launch of its Eris rocket for 2022. Eris is the startup’s first commercial orbital vehicle, capable of launching small satellites into low earth orbits.
• “We achieved a record 91 kilonewtons (or 9 tonnes-force) of thrust in this initial verification test of our main engine,” said Adam Gilmour, CEO and co-founder of the Queensland-based company.

• “This is the engine that will be powering the first and second stages of our Eris orbital vehicle as it launches into space,” he explained. “I’m happy to report that all systems performed very well during this 10-second test.”
• “Many of our Eris launch vehicle components have completed development testing, and the first flight articles are on the manufacturing floor ready for assembly,” Adam said. “This is going to be a busy year for us; the year we build our rocket.”
• Gilmour Space is also one of the eight Australian small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) awarded a grant as part of the federal government’s commitment to enhancing sovereign capability.

A great big haul

• 500-backed logistics startup Haulio took a look back at 2020, recording positive numbers in the challenging year:

1. Revenue growth of 38.5%
2. More than 500,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) transacted, growing 247%
3. The Haulio Community System saw a 315% growth in trucks, serving 19% of the market share
4. Established a presence in Thailand, digitalizing more than 400 trucks and executing more than 113,000 TEUs

• Get the full report here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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