Legit Group raises US$3 million in seed funding led by East Ventures

• AC Ventures also participated in this round
• Funds to expand locations, create new delivery-centric brands

Indonesia-based cloud kitchen company, Legit Group, announced that it has raised US$3 million (RM12.4 million) in seed funding led by East Ventures, with participation from AC Ventures.

[RM1 = US$0.24]

In a statement, the company said it will use the fresh capital to aggressively expand locations to reach a wider customer base and to create and market new delivery-centric brands.

Established in February 2021, through strategic partnership with Ismaya Group, Yummy Corp and GK Hebat, Legit Group aims to be the leader in creating delivery-first food and beverage (F&B) brands in Southeast Asia.

It currently operates three F&B brands (Pastaria, Sei’Tan and Juju Chikin) and operates from 45 distribution points. 

It has plans to launch two more brands and expand to 135 distribution points by the end of the year.

“The pandemic has further accelerated the adoption of the food delivery business and we believe this trend will stay even when the pandemic ends,” said Sumarno Ngadiman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Legit Group.

“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 better overall experience to the customers who wish to order our products.”

Ngadiman said they have been in the F&B business for more than twenty years and we will be able to draw on their experiences and create the products that customers want with the utmost standard of food safety and handling practice.

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, he added.

Currently Indonesia has the largest food delivery service market in Southeast Asia at a market size of US$3.7 billion, accounting for 31% of the total food delivery value in the region and continues to grow at 35.2% annually, Legit Group said.

“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 on traditional dine-in sales like before, they are now embracing online food delivery service,” said Roderick Purwana, managing Partner of East Ventures.

“Despite launching early this year, Legit Group has proved their 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,” he added.

Legit Group sales has grown 9.5 times since its inception with 61% increase in revenue from June to July alone, it claimed.

“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," said Adrian Li, co-founder and managing partner of AC Ventures.