Klar Smile, an oral wellness startup in Indonesia, announced Wednesday that it has raised a $4.5 million pre-series A funding round co-led by AC Ventures and East Ventures.
Other participating investors included Venturra Discovery, and several angel investors, Klar Smile said in a statement.
As Klar Smile’s seed investor in 2021, AC Ventures decided to top up its investment as the company looks toward expanding its presence beyond the teeth straightening market.
According to the startup, the fresh funding will be used to grow its presence nationwide. This largely includes educating consumers about the importance of oral wellness and rolling out complementary product offerings.
Klar Smile’s aim is to offer holistic, aesthetic, and functional dental treatments for its patients.
The startup manufactures clear orthodontics aligners in-house. Treatment plans are developed by experienced orthodontists and every set is tailor-made to suit each patient’s needs.
Within its first year of operating, Klar Smile claims to already have a firm grasp of the Indonesian market. It has partnered with more than 1,000 dentists and orthodontists throughout the archipelago.
The firm is now present in more than 800 dental clinics across every province in the country, effectively making orthodontics aligner treatment accessible to the entire 275 million population of Indonesia.
Through the Klar Smile mobile app, dentists and patients can interact and monitor treatment progress remotely. This unique user experience improves convenience and eliminates friction, as it reduces the patient’s number of visits to their clinic, as well as time spent on periodic check-ups.
To ensure effectiveness, Klar Smile believes that aligner solutions require intense collaborative efforts with dentist communities, particularly those in orthodontics.
This is the reason the startup is actively working with groups like the Indonesian Dentist Association (PDGI) and the Indonesian Orthodontics Association (IKORTI), participating in more than 50 dentist community events annually.
“As an early champion for this startup, we believe that KLAR Smile offers a practical, innovative solution that millions of locals want and need. We believe in Indonesia’s market potential for oral wellness and the founding team continues to impress us with their depth of understanding and ability to execute,” said Michael Soerijadji, Founder and Managing Partner of AC Ventures.
Meanwhile, East Ventures Partner Melisa Irene said wellness leads to overall health, and she believes solutions provided by Klar Smile will bring more positive impacts in revolutionizing the overall wellness and health of Indonesian.
KLAR Smile has also appointed prominent Indonesian pop singer and actress Maudy Ayunda as its official brand ambassador.
The partnership with Maudy Ayunda is also one of the startup’s strategic moves in moving beyond just being an aligner manufacturing company.
Klar Smile aims to establish a smile care routine category – a whole new segment of Indonesian oral wellness that fuses dentist expertise and the simplicity of at-home oral care products for a pleasant oral care routine with visible results.
A range of innovative and breakthrough direct-to-consumers oral care products are expected to be launched by the end of the year.
Indonesia’s KLAR Smile bags $4.55M pre-series A funding co-led by AC Ventures and East Ventures. Congratulations to the entire team. I wish you great success in this endeavour.
Shishir Gupta, Founder and CEO, StartupLanes
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