The fashion e-commerce platform Sorabel will close its operations by the end of July, Daily Social has learned. In a letter sent to employees, the management said it did the best effort to save the company, but it needs to file for liquidation.
“Employment will end for everyone effective July 30. Certainly no one expected this to happen,” the letter said as quoted by Daily Social.
Employee have been asked to return all of the company’s assets. The management said it will help employees to get a new job within its network of investors, which own more than 100 companies.
Sorabel was founded in 2014 by Lingga Madu and Ariza Novianti under the name “Sale Stock”, and later rebranded as Sorabel. Sale Stock’s operation started in Madu’s garage. The two founders traveled to acquire clothes from stores in Jakarta, Thailand, and even China. In 2016, Madu invited Jeffrey Yuwono to join the team and lead the company as president.
Business was good during the initial years when the site attracted many customers with low prices. However, Sale Stock was plagued with inconsistent quality of their products, which hindered customer retention.
In 2019, the company received debt financing from InnoVen Capital, which is backed by Temasek and UOB Group. It raised funds from 12 investors, including Kejora Ventures, SMDV, Golden Equator Ventures, MNC Media Investments, the accelerator Shift, and Gobi Partners.
Sorabel is the latest addition to the list of companies that didn’t make it through COVID-19. In Indonesia, hotel startup Airy and food supplier Stoqo have been casualties of the pandemic.