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Mobile e-commerce sales are booming in China. Indonesia’s Orami said it aims to tap the broader Asian market. Photo: Simon Song

Girls’ generation: Indonesian e-commerce start-up Orami attracts US$15 mln from group including Facebook co-founder Saverin

Female-focused start-up ‘on top of its game’, Shanghai-based Gobi Partners also among investors

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who has been stepping up his investments in Southeast Asian technology startups, joined a US$15 million round of financing for Indonesian e-commerce start-up Orami.

Other investors included the technology-focused investment arm of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group, Shanghai-based Gobi Partners, Velos Partners and Ardent Capital, according to a statement Wednesday.

Orami is the new brand for the female-focused business formed through the merger of Moxy and Bilna and is led by CEO Jeremy Fichet. It plans to expand to other countries in the region.

“The Orami team is on top of its game with a laser focus on the intersection of social commerce, content and women,” Saverin said in the statement.

“Between Thailand and Indonesia, where more than five million babies are born a year, women not only serve as the gate to the home but are the key drivers of rapidly growing economy and future generation.”

Saverin’s recent investments include online news site Tech in Asia, car rental service Silvercar, and Hopscotch, a shopping site for Indian moms.

Orami now has almost 500 employees in Indonesia and Thailand. Some 75 per cent of its customers are women and the start-up gets about three million visits a month.

Japan has a similar-sounding social e-commerce start-up for fashion and lifestyle products called Origami, which entered the offline payments fold late last year.

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