Warung Pintar, a micro-retail startup from Indonesia, acquired Limakilo, a platform that connects farmers directly to food stalls and food vendors. This acquisition allows thousands of “Warung Pintar” stalls in various parts of Indonesia to sell staple food items at their digitally-enhanced kiosks, according to an official announcement.
As a result of merging Limakilo’s services with Warung Pintar, stall owners can access a more diverse range of staple foods such as rice, cooking oil, brown sugar, shallots, potatoes, and salt. In return, the farmers in Limakilo’s network gain greater access to the market and a better selling price. The collaboration is aimed at improving the grassroots economies in Indonesia, said Walesa Danto, co-founder of Limakilo in the statement.
Established in 2017, Warung Pintar, or “smart kiosk”, is a startup that helps to digitize traditional Indonesian roadside vendors. Warung Pintar’s acquisition of Limakilo comes shortly after Warung Pintar completed its Series B funding round. The startup raised US$27.5 million from investors such as SMDV, Vertex, Pavilion Capital, Line Ventures, Digital Garage, Agaeti, Triputra, Jerry Ng, and EV Grow. Currently, it operates over 1,200 stalls in Jakarta, Tangerang, Depok, and Banyuwangi, and plans to open 5000 new stalls in Java.
Limakilo raised a seed round in 2016. It’s an agritech startup that wants to provide farmers with the “widest possible market access”. It addresses a problem many Indonesian farmers face: they’re forced to sell their produce at a very low price to middlemen because they lack the network and know-how to sell directly to consumers.
Limakilo says it targets to grow the rice supply from village enterprises from 48 tonnes in 2018 t0 100 tonnes this year through its collaboration with Warung Pintar.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
