Everything. Social. We've covered two Vietnamese social commerce this year, and here's the latest in social commerce from Indonesia! 🇮🇩

Say hey to RateS, who just raised a $4.5M equity Series A+ round, led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India. It helps housewives, students and micro-entrepreneurs in Tier 2 and 3 cities make extra $$$.

• It has over 500,000 resellers in 400 cities, and its GMV shot up 4x in 2021.

Who cashed in? Insignia Ventures Partners and Beacon Venture Capital (VC arm of Thai Kasikornbank) also cashed in.

• It also bagged $1.5M in debt from Genesis Alternative Ventures.
• Its last round was $4M Series A in February 2021 to expand to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

⏰  Rewind

Founded in 2016, RateS began as a foreign exchange provider. Now, it's a social commerce startup that allows anyone to set up their own online shop and make money — with zero risk!

• RateS handles everything from inventory and payments to packing and shipping. All you need to do is sell!

🤑  What's with the $$$?

In-house. It's growing its own private-label brands, starting with manufacturing mom and baby products to sell on its platform.

• The strategy: It's looking to raise a Series B from Chinese investors later this year since its supply chain and manufacturing will be in China.

Credit. It's tapping Kasikorn Bank's credit line to be able to provide more financial products to its rural customers.

Hiring. It will be doubling down on hiring for product and engineering.

Extra Scoop: McKinsey on how online commerce is driving Indonesia's economic development.