The startup, which currently focuses on fresh groceries and plans to expand into more categories, announced on May 21 that it has raised $1 million in seed funding mainly from Asian venture capital firms led by Indonesia’s Venturra Discovery and Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures.

Founded in June 2020, Mio now has hundreds of agents or resellers. They are primarily women aged 25 to 35 years who live in smaller cities or rural areas. Most join Mio because they want to supplement their household income, which is usually below $350 a month.

In addition, social commerce companies typically do not require resellers to carry inventory. Instead, resellers pick what items they want to market to their buyers. In Mio’s case, most of their resellers’ customers are friends, family members, and neighbours, and they promote group orders through social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or Zalo, Vietnam’s most popular messaging app. Then they place and manage orders through Mio’s reseller app.

To lower logistics costs and ensure quick delivery times, Mio presently limits the number of products in its inventory. The company currently focuses on grocery staples, including fresh produce and poultry, and plans to add fast-moving consumer goods and household appliances, too, especially white-label goods that have a higher profit margin.

Mio’s new funding will be used on its distribution center and hiring for its tech and product teams. The startup plans to add more personalisation options for product categories and resellers, so they can build their own brand identities.

According to Investvine