This millennial took a gamble during the pandemic. Now her startup has raised over $225 million - CNBC

When the Covid pandemic was raging successful 2020, overmuch of the satellite was successful lockdown and much turned to online shopping.

But Chrisanti Indiana did the unexpected: she expanded her e-commerce concern — offline.

Her quality and idiosyncratic attraction e-commerce startup, Sociolla, had conscionable 2 brick-and-mortar stores successful Indonesia successful 2019. By the extremity of 2021, that fig grew "10 times" more, she said.

"A batch of radical really told america that it's a precise bold determination to really unfastened an offline presence, portion everybody was closing their offline stores [during the pandemic]," she added. 

But that was a "well-calculated" determination for Social Bella, which operates Sociolla. 

"We cognize that this is the clip for america to really hole … to marque definite that aft the pandemic, we tin service much and much consumers," she added. 

Looking acold up turned retired to beryllium the close determination for the 31-year-old. Her online and offline attack transformed her e-commerce startup into a multimillion-dollar quality conglomerate.  

Since 2018, it has raised astir $225 million, and drawn an awesome database of investors that see East Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Temasek and Pavilion Capital.  

Indiana, the co-founder and main selling serviceman of Social Bella, tells CNBC Make It however she took her Jakarta-based startup to the adjacent level.

The thought for Sociolla came astir successful 2015, erstwhile Indiana returned location to Jakarta, aft studying successful Australia.  

The constitution junkie realized that successful Australia, she had casual entree to a wide scope of quality products from planetary brands. That was a stark opposition to Indonesia.

"There was batch of options for me, but past I came backmost and there's fundamentally none," said Indiana. 

"There wasn't a level that had it each — I had to find circumstantial sellers connected societal media, inquire friends who tin assistance acquisition the merchandise for you [when they are] overseas."

What made matters worse for her was the online proliferation of counterfeit constitution products that were sometimes selling astatine "a fraction" of the original's price. 

"I inactive retrieve vividly successful my caput that there's a batch of similar sellers online, particularly connected societal media, that assertion their products are 99% authentic. What does that mean, 99% authentic?" 

Indeed, locally made counterfeits successful Indonesia are rife, acknowledgment to inexpensive labour costs and materials. According to a section report, Indonesian authorities seized amerciable cosmetic products worthy $9 cardinal successful 2018 — doubly the erstwhile year's amount. 

Seeing friends buying these products near Indiana perplexed. 

"It's skincare, it's makeup. It's thing that you enactment connected your skin. It's conscionable bizarre for me," she said. 

Determined to physique a abstraction wherever consumers tin get products that are harmless and authentic, Indiana teamed up with her member and person to motorboat Social Bella, with a starting superior of $13,000.

"Since we started, we guarantee that we lone enactment with authorized distributors oregon marque owners," Indiana said. 

Sociolla whitethorn person started disconnected arsenic an e-commerce platform, but the trio had bigger dreams. 

Social Bella has since gone beyond offline shops — it's besides a distributor for quality and idiosyncratic attraction manufacturers worldwide.  

"We go an subordinate spouse for a batch of planetary brands successful Indonesia. We assistance them not lone to administer their products to Indonesia, but we besides assistance them recognize the market," said Indiana.

On apical of that, the concern besides operates Soco, which Social Bella says is Indonesia's largest online reappraisal work for quality products. Soco has amassed much than 2.5 cardinal reviews for astir 36,000 products, the institution added. 

The "beauty journey" for customers goes beyond putting thing successful their buying carts and checking out, said Indiana. 

"We realized that there's a batch of interaction points that are truly important … uncovering the close products for yourself is not conscionable astir going to the store and picking it up. You volition marque definite that you work the reviews, speech to your friends, oregon Google first," she added. 

"Soco makes definite that they tin entree tons of merchandise reviews earlier they acquisition products."

On apical of that, Social Bella besides runs Beauty Journal — a manner website, and Lilla, an online retailer for mothers and babies.

That's each portion of gathering the concern "ecosystem," arsenic Indiana calls it.

"We privation to ... to service much and much women, not lone successful quality and idiosyncratic care, but besides successful different industries."

The startup appears to beryllium connected the close way — it present boasts much than 30 cardinal users crossed each its concern units, said Social Bella, selling an inventory of 12,000 products from 400 brands worldwide.

Over the past 2 years, Social Bella expanded aggressively, increasing from conscionable 3 Sociolla stores successful Indonesia successful 2020, to 47 stores determination and 16 stores successful Vietnam today.

While overmuch of the enlargement took spot during the pandemic, Indiana said that had ever been portion of the program for the e-commerce platform, lockdowns oregon not.

"It's really to make a seamless omnichannel acquisition … due to the fact that we judge that we are serving the aforesaid lawsuit whether she shops offline oregon online," the Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia honoree said.

"They tin take to bash click-and-collect oregon … she tin besides present the purchases to her home. It's making definite that she tin store the mode she likes."