Bioma raises pre-seed funding by East Ventures, Init-6

• Funds will be channeled towards hiring talent, expanding its services
• Offers an environmentally friendly alternative to purchasing items 

Bioma, a product-as-a-service startup that enables consumers to rent various types of physical assets, announced the completion of an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding round co-led by East Ventures and Init-6. 

In a statement, the firm said it will allocate the funds to further expand its services, especially in catering to different use cases of the customers. 

It said it will also utilise the funds to invest in more resources, mainly to add operations, products, and tech talents, to ensure a seamless user experience.

Established in 2022, Bioma is a platform that provides customers access to higher quality goods, including a large assortment of products in the electronics, furniture, kitchen appliances, and mother and baby categories, with significant cost savings by offering a pay-per-use system. 

Under this system, customers will pay a fee based on the usage of the on-demand product, with the responsibility of the products managed by Bioma. 

According to the startup, its solution provides flexibility, options, and convenience for businesses to rent the items instead of purchasing them. 

Bioma claimed that this model also solves businesses’ operational hassle of fulfilling and maintaining purchased items. 

This asset-light solution also solves customer pain points that lead to positive environmental outcomes, it added. 

The startup offers a circular approach as an environmentally friendly alternative to the current unsustainable consumption pattern and allows one product to be reused by multiple customers. 

In this instance, Bioma will also manage the refurbishment of each item to extend its life cycle and close the loop by recycling, upcycling, or repurposing the item to minimize the amount of waste produced.

In the operational aspect, the startup enables brands to become circular.

Applying the same vision in enabling asset-light businesses, more than 90% of its inventory is owned by third parties such as brands and individuals through a revenue-sharing model, with Bioma managing the operations end-to-end. 

Brands can thus expand into the rental market without building their rental supply chain, Bioma said. 

Arlo Erdaka, chief executive officer of Bioma, said, “We believe in the mission of enabling and transforming businesses in Indonesia into asset-light businesses, which can save up countless time, energy, and money for the business in managing these physical items.

“Our solution allows the business to focus on the important aspects in allocating the resources, providing convenience and affordability that were not available previously,” said Erdaka.

East Ventures partner Avina Sugiarto said, “There is a shifting purchasing behavior, where access triumphs ownership and Bioma serves as the solution to bridge the gap between asset owners and users, hence opening up a way for better utilisation of products.

“We believe in the enormous opportunities in this industry. With the strong will and experience of the Bioma team across tech, product, and operations, we look forward to growing with Bioma and accelerating the move to a more circular world,” she said.

Rexi Christopher, venture partner at Init-6 said, “The global trend is gradually moving from the mainstream, buy-and-dispose, linear economy to the sharing economy, and the market opportunities in this sharing economy are sizable and still growing,” he added. 

“Supported by a strong founding team with long experience in this industry, we are confident to see the positive development of Bioma going forward,” said Christopher.