Bridging the divide

• 500-backed social commerce startup, Dagangan, is bringing greater economic equality to Indonesia. It has introduced a new online merchandise shopping service, which aims to enable rural communities to shop from home and have groceries delivered within 24 hours without postage.
• According to Dagangan, two to three out of five Indonesians reside in rural areas, where they typically have to travel two to three hours to get to the nearest town to shop. The startup implemented a hubs-and-spoke model where local stock centers are set up, allowing Dagangan to establish working relationships with community leaders, local SMEs, and entrepreneurs.
• Ryan Manafe, Dagangan’s CEO and co-founder said, “They now have the same opportunity as urban communities, completely meeting their daily needs affordably, without incurring additional shipping costs.”
• The startup added that it will continue to expand its operations so that more rural communities in the country can benefit from its services.
• Read the full article here.

Delivering value

• A report on food delivery platforms in Southeast Asia revealed that 500-backed super app Grab retained its market leadership in 2021 in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV).
• Overall, Southeast Asia recorded a 30% growth in the sector, resulting in a record US$15.5 billion total GMV in 2021. Grab contributed to almost half of this total in 2021 (US$7.6 billion or 49%) as well as the year before.
• The report also revealed that Grab is the food delivery leader in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines in terms of market share.
• Read Tech in Asia’s report summary here or the full report here.

A win-win situation

• 500 Southeast Asia received two awards at the recent Malaysian Venture Capital Association’s (MVCA) 14th MVCA Awards 2020/2021; It won ‘Firm of the Year – Large Cap’ and the ‘Responsible Investment Award’.
• 500-backed automotivemarketplace Carsome was also honored with ‘Deal of the Year’.
• On the Responsible Investment Award, Khailee Ng, Managing Partner at 500 Southeast Asia, said, “Awards bring attention to the hard work of founders, their team members, customers, and families. The past two years have been hard for many of them, and VCs are privileged to serve. We salute the founders who join in the ESG journey for all, and who build empires of love – the love of tech, people, and using tech to impact people’s lives.
• “We must remind the world that it’s too easy to follow the story of tech or money. The real story is about growth and triumph of the human spirit against all odds. It’s a story we share. After all, we are all in this business together,” he added.
• Read the full story on Digital News Asia.