Announced today, Ismaya-backed cloud kitchen company, Legit Group, has raised US$3 million (IDR 43 billion) of seed funding led by East Ventures with participation from AC Ventures.
Established on February 1st, 2021, through a strategic partnership with Ismaya Group, Yummy Corp, and GK Hebat, Legit Group aimed to be the leader in creating delivery-first food and beverage (F&B) brands in Southeast Asia.
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the F&B industry globally as people prefer to stay in rather than going out for meals and this condition has, in turn, created immense opportunities for delivery-focused F&B business. Currently, Indonesia has the largest food delivery service market in Southeast Asia at a market size of US$3.7Bn, accounting for 31% of the total food delivery value in the region and continues to grow at 35.2% annually. Legit Group will use the fresh capital to aggressively expand locations to reach a wider customer base and to create and market new delivery-centric brands.
Legit Group sales has grown 9.5X since its inception with 61% increase in revenue from June-to-July alone. Legit Group currently has three brands (Pastaria, Sei’Tan, and Juju Chikin) and operates from 45 distribution points. Legit Group plans to launch two more brands and expand to 135 distribution points by the end of the year.
A legit roadmap to success
Sumarno Ngadiman, CEO and Co-Founder Legit Group states, “this pandemic has further accelerated the adoption of food delivery business and we believe this trend will stay even when the pandemic ends. The DNA of operating delivery-first F&B business is completely different from the traditional offline restaurant business, which is why many offline restaurants have struggled to compete in the delivery market. The key to success for delivery-first F&B business is to be able to create time-conscious, consistent, high-quality food that stays optimal during the delivery process and price it affordably so that customers can make it as part of their daily habits.”
“With my experience as Founder of Eatwell Group and strategic partnerships with Ismaya Group and Yummy Corp, we are in the position to be able to use our current infrastructure to quickly expand our operations without heavy up-front investment expenditure. This allows us to widen our coverage quickly and thus lowering the delivery charges and provide a better overall experience to the customers who wish to order our products. We have been in the F&B business for more than twenty years and we will be able to draw on our experiences and create the products that customers want with the utmost standard of food safety and handling practice,” he continues.
Roderick Purwana, Managing Partner of East Ventures states, “since the beginning of the pandemic, the F&B sector was hit especially hard as mobility and dine-in restrictions have kept diners indoors. As F&B players can no longer rely more on traditional dine-in sales like before, they are now embracing online food delivery services, which is a necessary move to stay afloat through the pandemic.
Despite only launching early this year, Legit Group has proved its capabilities to create unique and exciting F&B brands with impressive growth. This is made possible by a very solid team with industry-leading experiences. The team background and focus on creating high-quality scalable brands, amidst a large and rapidly growing market will be a strong catalyst to catapult Legit Group to be the winner in the space.”
David Fernando Audy, Operating Partner of East Ventures states, “we all know Ismaya for their expertise in F&B industry, who successfully introduced many quality creative culinary concepts with delicious taste. Now they are replicating the recipe of success of Ismaya at Legit, leveraging on their kitchen and network infrastructure, with various online and tech initiatives, delivering quality food with great taste at an affordable price, at the speed and scale that will make Legit a formidable player in the on-demand food delivery business.”
Adrian Li, Founder & Managing Partner of AC Ventures states, “the development of a mature, on-demand delivery infrastructure has enabled new billion-dollar opportunities for consumer food brands offering delicious meals at low prices and ultimate convenience. The team at Legit brings proven F&B execution along with technological know-how that makes this one of the most promising companies in this sector.”
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