A company that’s good for investment and for the community
We learned that our parent company, Digital Garage, has invested in yet another initiative to create context and connect society to internet businesses. Earlier this year, Digital Garage contributed to a funding round for Warung Pintar, a startup that franchises high-tech micro-convenience store kiosks in Indonesia. Many investors in the Valley steer clear of investments that require hardware or don’t promise to scale rapidly; we took a closer look at Warung Pintar, hoping to understand what our bosses on the opposite side of the ocean are so excited about.
The micro markets are modern, bright-yellow kiosks outfitted with a TV, refrigerator, charging station, and a point-of-sales checkout system. The stores function both as a convenient place to grab a snack and/or drink, as well as the local hangout spot for ride-sharing drivers in between jobs.
By arming small mom & pop owners with more modern kiosks equipped with valuable retailing technologies and features, Warung Pintar is helping the more than 60,000 traditional roadside kiosks scattered throughout Jakarta compete more effectively against modern convenience stores. The startup plans to engage locals to upgrade their existing kiosks to a Warung Pintar store for about $4000. The company has already sold 196 of the mini-stores.
Still, that didn’t answer our question- what about this startup made it worth investing in?
Towards the end of the pitch, the founders explain their two revenue models: kiosk sales and inventory supply-chain. Both models would generate immediate up-front and recurring revenues. The point-of-sale inventory systems, group-purchasing, and shared supply-chain logistics provide significant efficiency gains to owners, while allowing Warung Pintar to build a highly scalable and profitable business.
Furthermore, digitizing the convenience transactions would enable the collection of data from a tremendous market that is for the most part, unknown and untapped. Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world, and has the largest economy in Southeast Asia. This data would be incredibly valuable to producers of fast-moving consumer goods, as well as government organizations.
Finally, expanding the availability of free WiFi and free charging to customers expands the opens the doors to more digital transactions in the future. In their pitch, the founders brought up several ideas for additional revenue streams such as entertainment, bookings, and payment processing.
Warung Pintar raised $4 million dollars in its seed round last February. In the months since, they have proudly reported on the company’s incredibly rapid growth. Learn more about the company: https://warungpintar.co.id
