Ula raised $141M to digitise Indonesia's warungs — then returned 30 cents on the dollar

Ula was an Indonesian B2B e-commerce platform that supplied small neighbourhood shops — warungs — with groceries and consumer goods at wholesale prices. Founded around 2020 by Nipun Mehra and others, it raised over $141 million from Bezos Expeditions, Prosus Ventures, Tencent, Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India), Lightspeed, B Capital and AC Ventures. At its peak it served over 100,000 warungs across East, Central and West Java.

The model was capital-intensive: Ula held inventory, ran logistics and extended credit to small retailers operating on thin margins. By late 2022 the company held $74 million in cash, but could not reach profitability. High operational costs, shifting demand and intensifying competition from other warung-tech startups and incumbent distributors squeezed the business from both sides.

Ula explored strategic pivots — exporting food and beverage products to the US, potential acquisitions — but none produced a sustainable path. By late 2023 it had paused operations and cut staff. The wind-down was gradual rather than sudden.

In the end, Ula returned approximately 30% of total capital raised to investors — about 30 cents on the dollar. Investors were offered a choice: take the 30% or roll their stake into Mehra's next venture, reported to be an AI-focused company in India. The $50 million still in the bank at shutdown was not enough to build a business that worked.