Vietnamese social e-commerce startup Mio receives $1 million in seed round funding

Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, but many major platforms are still concentrated in large cities , meaning it’s difficult for people in smaller cities or rural areas to shop online.

Social commerce company Mio recognized this and built a network of dealers and logistics infrastructure to provide next-day delivery services to second- and third-tier cities .

The startup, which is currently focused on fresh food and plans to expand into more categories, announced today that it has secured $1 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Venturra Discovery and Golden Gate Ventures.

Other participants included iSeed SEA, DoorDash executives Gokul Rajaram and Vidit Aatrey, and Sanjeev Barnwal, co-founder of Indian social commerce unicorn Meesho.

Rajaram, Aatrey and Barnwal will become advisors to Mio co-founder and CEO Trung Huynh, who previously worked as an investment associate at IDG Ventures Vietnam. Other founders include An Pham (who also co-founded Temasek-backed logistics startup SCommerce), Tu Le and Long Pham.

Founded in June 2020, Mio currently has hundreds of agents and distributors , most of whom are women aged 25 to 35 living in small cities or rural areas . Most of them join Mio because they want to increase their family income, as their family income is usually less than US $350.

The social business model works for them because they are already used to placing orders in groups . Mio says its distributors earn an average of about $200 to $300, earning a 10% commission on each order, plus additional commissions based on the monthly performance they submit to the platform.

Mio is one of many social commerce startups in Asia that are tapping into buying power in a region where major e-commerce companies have yet to dominate.

Mio is building an internal logistics and delivery system, including a new distribution center in Thu Duc, which can deliver goods to five cities including Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province . Mio can handle up to tens of thousands of orders per day at the center. Mio can also make next-day deliveries for orders placed before 8pm.

To reduce logistics costs and ensure fast delivery, Mio limits the number of products it carries in stock. The company is currently focusing on groceries such as fresh produce and poultry, with plans to add fast-moving consumer goods and home appliances .

Vietnam

Southeast Asia