Bukalapak: The multibillion-dollar business behind Indonesia’s iconic street stalls | CNBC Make It

[Indos]

Indonesia is famous for its millions of traditional street kiosks, but they are modernizing fast amid strong competition from modern retailers. CNBC Make It’s Karen Gilchrist spoke to Bukalapak CEO Rachmat Kaimuddin about the multibillion-dollar business of bringing small sellers online.

 

[Indos]

Indonesian companies get united to compete better

Gojek in Talks With Tokopedia for $18 Billion Merger

Jan.04 -- Indonesia’s two most valuable startups, ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek and e-commerce pioneer PT Tokopedia, are said to be in advanced discussions about a merger. Bloomberg’s Yoolim Lee reports on “Bloomberg Markets: China Open.”

 

[Indos]

Gojek Founder, Nadiem Makarim 2017, 36 years old.

 

[Indos]

Nadiem Makariem interview with Gita Wiryawan, former Indonesian minister.

 

[Indos]

Microsoft-Backed Bukalapak Considers U.S. Listing Via SPAC

Manuel Baigorri and Yoolim Lee
Tue, March 2, 2021, 12:40 PM·1 min read


Bukalapak.com, an Indonesian e-commerce company backed by Microsoft Corp., is weighing a U.S. listing via a special purpose acquisition company, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is working with investment banks on the plan and is in preliminary talks with several blank-check companies, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Bukalapak could be valued at $4 billion to $5 billion in a potential SPAC merger, the people said. The startup could consider listing a small part of its business in Jakarta before doing a U.S. SPAC deal, they added.

Deliberations are preliminary and no final decision has been made, the people said. A representative for Bukalapak declined to comment.


Bukalapak, which means “open a stall” in Bahasa Indonesia, is an online marketplace that sells products from grapes and shoes to cars and televisions. Founded in 2010, the startup’s platform hosts 13.5 million online sellers and 100 million users.

In November last year, Microsoft formed a strategic partnership with the Indonesian firm and made an investment as part of the deal. Other investors in Bukalapak include Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co., Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, Naver Corp. and Standard Chartered Plc. Bukalapak is valued at $3.5 billion, according to CB Insights.

The coronavirus pandemic has boosted demand for e-commerce in the world’s fourth most populous country, where Bukalapak competes with rivals such as SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Tokopedia, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Lazada Group and Shopee, a unit of Singapore-based Sea Ltd.

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Microsoft-Backed Bukalapak Considers U.S. Listing Via SPAC

(Bloomberg) -- Bukalapak.com, an Indonesian e-commerce company backed by Microsoft Corp., is weighing a U.S. listing via a special purpose acquisition company, according to people familiar with the matter.The company is working with investment banks on the plan and is in preliminary talks with...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Indos]

Gojek Joins Grab in State-Backed Digital Payment LinkAja

BY RISMA ARDIANTO

MARCH 10, 2021

Sellers show the Gojek app on their smartphones that support electronic levy payment in Yogyakarta on Aug 20, 2020. (Antara Photo/Andreas Fitri Atmoko)​

Jakarta. Gojek Indonesia, one of the country’s largest ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital payment companies, has decided to invest in Fintek Karya Nusantara, or Finarya, the company behind digital payment LinkAja backed by some of Indonesia’s largest state-owned lenders, in a move that marks Gojek’s joint investment with its fiercest rival Grab.

Finarya said on Tuesday that it had raised $100 million from a Series B shares funding round since last October, involving Gojek, and existing investors like Grab, Telekomunikasi Indonesia’s Telekomunikasi Seluler (Telkomsel), Bank Mandiri’s Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI)m and Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s BRI Ventures.

Credit Suisse and Hiswara, Bunjamin & Tandjung act as exclusive placement agents and the legal adviser for LinkAja in the funding round.

Earlier, Gojek and LinkAja have a partnership that allowed LinkAja customers to pay for transportation and ticket purchase on Gojek’s platform.

Finarya said Gojek’s investment would build on the partnership, combining its lead in market penetration in the 2nd and 3rd tier cities in Indonesia with the latter’s expertise in catering to the micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Finarya said 80 percent of LinkAja users came from tier 2 and tier 3 cities in Indonesia.

Haryati Lawidjaja, Finarya’s chief executive officer (CEO), said Gojek would help the company realize its mission to accelerate Indonesia's financial inclusion.

“Through this strategic partnership, we hope to have a bigger and wider impact on the Indonesian economy, especially for people who have bank accounts and who have not utilized banking services, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises,” Haryati said.

Gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo said Gojek and LinkAja partnership would strengthen Indonesia’s digital economy.

“As two leading national companies, this collaboration provides an opportunity to combine the technological strengths and broad reach of each company, as well as the opportunity to work together in increasing the use of non-cash payments so that it can make the lives of millions of people across the country easier," Andre said.

Data from Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, published last November showed that Gojek’s digital payment GoPay and LinkAja were still behind the market leader OVO.

OVO held a 20 percent market share, followed by GoPay and Mandiri with a 19 percent share each. Dana and Bank Central Asia sit at a joint third place with 10 percent shares, followed by BRI (6.3 percent), LinkAja (5.8 percent), ShopeePay (3.7 percent), Bank Negara Indonesia (1.3 percent), and Doku (1.2 percent).

Gojek Joins Grab in State-Backed Digital Payment LinkAja

Gojek takes part in LinkAja's latest $100 million funding round, marking its joint investment with archrival Grab.

jakartaglobe.id

 

[Indos]

Bukalapak founder injects $5m in Indonesian cloud hosting start-up ​

Eisya A. Eloksari
The Jakarta Post
PREMIUM
Jakarta / Wed, March 24, 2021 / 11:41 am

Stock illustration of cloud computing(Shutterstock/Blackboard)


Indonesian cloud hosting start-up IDCloudHost has received US$5 million in funding from Init 6, a venture capital firm headed by founding partner Achmad Zaky, who cofounded e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak.

IDCloudHost plans to use the fund to grow its technology and human resources to expand its market in Asia. “Amid the tight competition in the global cloud service industry, IDCloudHost has succeeded in sustainably maintaining its business growth momentum.

We hope that they can strengthen the start-up ecosystem and bring many creative ideas in the digital development,”Achmad said in a statement on Monday.

Read also: Cloud service boom will continue: Oracle Established in Bandung in 2015,

IDCloudHost said it had 100,000 clients to date that ranged from companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to individual developers in Indonesia and Asia. The...

Bukalapak founder injects $5m in Indonesian cloud hosting start-up

IDCloudHost plans to expand its market in Asia on the back of rising demand for cloud services as a result of continuing growth in the region's digital economy.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[Indos]

Southeast Asian Startup Earns Funding US$8.2B in 2020​

JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) – Technology startups in Southeast Asia (SEA) have earned funding up to US$8.2 billion in 2020, Cento Ventures reported. Nearly 50 percent of the funds went to unicorn pockets, including Malaysia’ Grab Holdings, Indonesia’ GoJek, Bukalapak, and Traveloka.

Based on the report, the fundraising fell by 3.5 percent compared to 2019 of $8.5 billion, as it was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than $100 million deals account for 57 percent of the total investment and deals between $50 – 100 million set a record value of $1.1 billion, a 26 percent increased from 2019.

Despite the effects of the pandemic, Southeast Asia experienced the smallest decline in startup investment values compared to other developing countries, such as India, which fell 31 percent, and Africa, which fell 38 percent.

“COVID-19 has a different effect in each country. Start-ups in the United States and Europe recorded new investment records last year, with investment value growing 13 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, China is also experiencing a growth of 6 percent, ”wrote the report released on Sunday (03/28).

Last year, said Cento, Indonesian startups controlled 70 percent of total funding in the region. Together with Singapore contributed 64 percent of the total agreements. The amount of investment in Indonesia is driven by supper-apps GoJek, supported by Bukalapak, Waresix, Kopi Kenangan, and LinkAja.

Account Suspended

 

[Indos]

Technology News
April 14, 2021 12:35 PM
Updated 9 hours ago

Indonesian e-commerce firm Bukalapak raises $234 million: document
By Anshuman Daga



SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak raised $234 million in capital in a funding round led by Microsoft, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and local media conglomerate Emtek, according to a sale document reviewed by Reuters.

The latest funding round comes amid a frenzy of interest from global investors in gaining exposure to the fast growing Southeast Asian technology sector with the prospect of listings of startups worth tens of billions of dollars.

The funding round for the 11-year old startup, which claims over 100 million users, also included SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered, and South Korean web portal Naver Corp.

Bukalapak, which in October 2019 said it was valued at more than $2.5 billion, declined to comment.

Sources told Reuters that the company is currently planning to list in Indonesia, where it has hired Bank Mandiri’s securities arm Mandiri Sekuritas, before eyeing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the United States.

Fellow Southeast Asian startup Grab announced on Tuesday the world’s biggest blank-cheque company deal ever, as it clinched a nearly $40 billion merger with SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp.

Bukalapak is expected to face stiff public market competition from Indonesian ride-hailing and payments company Gojek and larger e-commerce rival Tokopedia, which sources say are close to finalizing a merger ahead of a potential dual listing in Jakarta and the United States.[L1N2M20N4]

Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Ed Davies

Indonesian e-commerce firm Bukalapak raises $234 mln- document

Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak raised $234 million in capital in a funding round led by Microsoft (MSFT.O), Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and local media conglomerate Emtek (EMTK.JK), according to a sale document reviewed by Reuters.

www.reuters.com

 

[Whizzack]

For some reason, I still prefer to shop in Tokopedia rather than Bukalapak.. but seems like Bukalapak is actually the more succesful of the 2...?

 

[CountStrike]

For some reason, I still prefer to shop in Tokopedia rather than Bukalapak.. but seems like Bukalapak is actually the more succesful of the 2...?

I work with many people from IT and Automobile background.. offtenly see that they are buying many tools from Bukalapak rather than Tokopedia.... Me personally prefer Tokopedia and Blibli to shopping online

 

[Indos]

For some reason, I still prefer to shop in Tokopedia rather than Bukalapak.. but seems like Bukalapak is actually the more succesful of the 2...?

Tokopedia is still number 1 in Indonesia, but Bukalapak has also huge potential as it start penetrating outside Indonesia and make BukaGlobal platform where Indonesian products can be accessed by market in several ASEAN countries. Its recent backing from Microsoft I believe will also make the company transformed into more sophisticated company, particularly in the technology part, and will likely have better App feature soon.

 

[Indos]

Indonesian companies get united to compete better

Gojek in Talks With Tokopedia for $18 Billion Merger

Jan.04 -- Indonesia’s two most valuable startups, ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek and e-commerce pioneer PT Tokopedia, are said to be in advanced discussions about a merger. Bloomberg’s Yoolim Lee reports on “Bloomberg Markets: China Open.”

Gojek-Tokopedia merger to boost RI's place in regional digital economy
​

In the business sense, a unicorn is any privately held start-up valued at over US$1 billion. The choice of the mythical animal alludes to the rarity of such start-ups.(Shutterstock.com/fatmawati achmad zaenuri)


Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post)
PREMIUM
Jakarta ● Mon, May 17, 2021


The recent merger between Gojek and Tokopedia is expected to consolidate their positions as major players in Southeast Asia’s digital economy amid rising competition, particularly from Singapore-based companies, that led the two to lose ground in recent years, even in their home turf of Indonesia.

Jakarta-based ride-hailing company Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia, both of which are unicorns, announced their merger on Monday with the establishment of GoTo Group, the country’s biggest start-up in terms of valuation at an estimated US$18 billion.

The merger enables GoTo to better compete with the likes of Singapore-based ride-hailing giant Grab, worth an estimated $14.3 billion, and Singapore’s SEA Limited, the publicly listed parent company for e-marketplace Shopee, which is worth $112.59 billion by market cap. Furthermore, GoTo is...

Gojek-Tokopedia merger to boost RI's place in regional digital economy

The two companies have been facing tight competition from Shopee and Grab but the recent merger, alongside reported plans of an IPO, is expected to boost GoTo's presence in the Southeast Asian digital economy.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[Indos]

Cross-border payments start-up Transfez raises seed fund, plans B2B entry
​

Chief technology officer Bondan Herumurti (left) and CEO Edo Windratno of Transfez pose with mobile phone displays showing the financial technology start-up's application. The company said on May 19, 2021 that it had secured seed funding it planned to use to expand its services to the business-to-business (B2B) segment.(-/Courtesy of Transfez)


Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post)
PREMIUM
Jakarta ● Wed, May 19, 2021


Indonesian fintech start-up Transfez announced on Tuesday that it had secured an undisclosed amount in a seed round co-led by East Ventures and Singapore's Beenext. Transfez said in a statement that the company planned to use the fresh funds to expand its cross-border payment services to the business-to-business (B2B) segment.

The start-up’s services, covering 26 currencies and more than 50 countries, are currently limited to the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment.

Cross-border payments start-up Transfez raises seed fund, plans B2B entry

The financial technology start-up plans to use the seed money to enter the B2B segment after posting steep growth in the first year since it was formed and in spite of the global pandemic.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[Indos]

GoTo plots global expansion on backbone of SME merchants
​

Drivers in Gojek-branded gear wait for delivery orders at a distribution center in Surabaya, East Java, on May 17, 2021, when Gojek and Tokopedia unveiled their merger to form GoTo Group, the largest Indonesian tech start-up to date.(AFP/Juni Kriswanto )


M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post)
PREMIUM
Jakarta ● Thu, May 20, 2021



During a media event on Tuesday, top executives from the newly minted tech giant GoTo, a merger of homegrown decacorn Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia, joked about their companies’ taglines.

Tokopedia uses “Mulai Aja Dulu” (start first) while Gojek, which started out as a call center for ojek (motorcycle taxi) ride-hailing and delivery services in congestion-choked Jakarta, has adopted the slogan “Pasti Ada Jalan” (there must be a way) in recent years.

“There’s a lot of things that we need to do and prepare for the IPO [initial public offering] and it will be very hard, but yes, there is certain to be a way,” Andre Soelistyo, CEO of GoTo and GoTo Financial, said with a chuckle.

He was referring to the merged group's planned dual listing in the US and on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX).

GoTo plots global expansion on backbone of SME merchants

This week's merger announcement from Gojek and Tokopedia points to greater, global things to come for the homegrown tech giants, albeit through low-key, modestly worded messaging.

www.thejakartapost.com