Sorabel

Sarah Wig writes articles for Investocracy News, a news and media platform focusing on startup news from Africa and Asia

Sorabel, an Indonesia based fashion e-commerce platform, confirmed that it will be shutting down by the end of this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an internal email to its employees, Sorabel’s management communicated to its staff that while it tried to do its best to save the business, it has decided to go through liquidation.

“Due to this liquidation process, we have to terminate employment contracts with no exception, effective July 30. I am certain that no one would ever expect this to happen.”

The management stated that it is committed to ensure that all employees’ rights are fulfilled during the process like religious holiday support. Additionally, it will properly abide by the decisions and regulations of the liquidators. Most importantly, the management has also promised to help the employees find a new job from the vast network of their investors consisting of more than 100 companies. Sorabel’s employees are expected to return the assets of the company, which in turn will be resold and processed by liquidators.

“This might be the end of our journey with Sorabel. I hope that we can keep the good memories that we have had together in this place. The company expresses its deepest gratitude to you for fighting until the very end.”

About Sorabel

Founded in 2014 as Sale Stock, the start-up was rebranded as Sorabel in the beginning of 2019. It introduced several innovations like the ‘try-first-pay-later’ feature. It has become more aggressive following the rebranding as it began its expansion and realised its ambition to provide “quality and affordable fashion items” for the “next billion users.”

 

Sorabel's website
Sorabel’s website
Funding of Sorabel

Previously, Sorabel successfully closed a Series B+ funding round, led by Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund. It also announced that it was closing its Series C funding round from investors, including Kejora Ventures, Ncore Ventures, OpenSpace, Gobi Partners, MNC Media Investment, SMDV, Golden Equator Capital, and Convergence Ventures.

Business Model

Lingga Madu, co-founder of Sorabel, stated that the Sorabel’s business model was the healthiest compared to e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. He compared its unit economics to that of global fashion e-commerce players like Asos and Revolve. In 2018, Madu claimed that the company had achieved break-even and was ready to make a profit.

Sorabel founders
Sorabel founders
Situation of Sorabel

Madu also stated that he and co-founder Ariza Novianti had left the company in October 2019. However, he declined to comment on the liquidation of the company.

Yabel is the Phillipines unit of Sorabel. Although Yabel announced its plan to expand to the middle east, Sorabel announced its shutdown on social media in February.

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