Uena

Uena is an Indonesian food and beverage company established in 2022 by co-founders Alvin Arief and Roy Yohanes to address the daily food needs of the mass market. The founders, both seasoned entrepreneurs in the F&B sector with over a decade of experience, identified a gap in the market for affordable, reliable, and high-quality daily meals—a segment largely dominated by unorganized street-side vendors. Arief's prior experience includes founding the daily deals platform Lapar.com in 2010. Recognizing the challenges consumers face with inconsistent quality, hygiene, and pricing, they launched Uena as a hyperlocal online F&B solution.

The company operates on a tech-enabled, hyperlocal cloud kitchen model, strategically setting up low-capital, efficient kitchens in densely populated areas. Each kitchen serves a tight radius of approximately 1 to 1.5 kilometers, enabling rapid, in-house delivery, with most orders reaching customers within 15 minutes. This operational model minimizes overhead by forgoing dine-in facilities and leveraging technology, including cooking robots, to streamline preparation and reduce costs. Uena's business model is centered on a direct-to-consumer approach, with over 80% of orders placed through its proprietary mobile app and WhatsApp, reducing dependency on third-party aggregators. This strategy allows the company to offer meals at accessible price points, targeting a clientele of office workers, students, and convenience store employees.

Uena’s product offering focuses on a curated menu of popular Indonesian classic dishes, such as Nasi Goreng and Ayam Goreng. By concentrating on a limited number of high-volume items, the company achieves economies of scale in procurement and operational efficiency. The company has demonstrated strong market validation, with a high rate of repeat orders and mature stores achieving break-even status within their first year of operation. Since its launch, Uena has expanded to several kitchen locations across Jakarta and has served over 300,000 portions. The startup has successfully secured multiple rounds of funding from investors including East Ventures, Trihill Capital, and IDN Media, which are being used to fuel further expansion in Jakarta, develop its technology, and broaden its menu offerings.

Keywords: food delivery, cloud kitchen, Indonesian cuisine, F&B startup, hyperlocal delivery, direct-to-consumer, online food service, mobile ordering, quick service restaurant, affordable meals, Jakarta food market, food technology, venture capital, last-mile delivery, ghost kitchen, operational efficiency, food service logistics, Southeast Asia tech, daily meals, economies of scale, WhatsApp ordering