Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak raises $234 million

Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak has raised $234 million in a funding round led by Microsoft, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and local media group Emtek, according to a sales document leaked by foreign media .

Its financing channels also include Standard Chartered Bank's investment institution Supply Chain Venture Capital (SC Ventures) and South Korean portal Naver Corp. Bukalapak declined to comment on the news .

The company is currently planning to go public in Indonesia, according to people familiar with the matter . It has hired Mandiri Sekuritas, the securities arm of Bank Mandiri , and is considering merging with a U.S. special purpose acquisition company ( SPAC ) to go public through a reverse merger .

It is reported that this 11-year- old e -commerce startup was founded in 2010. In October 2019, it stated that its valuation exceeded US$2.5 billion . As early as November 2020, Bukalapak announced that it had established a strategic partnership with Microsoft, and at the end of last year Microsoft announced an investment of US$100 million in Bukalapak.

As of now, Bukalapak has more than 13.5 million MSMEs ( small and medium enterprises ) in Indonesia and more than 100 million users. In addition, Bukalapak launched the B2B e-procurement business line through the Indonesia Marketing Opening (BPI) and the Digital APERD Joint Investment Opening (BIB) in 2019, thereby improving the quality of its services.

Southeast Asia has a population of about 670 million and its internet economy is expected to grow from an estimated $100 billion last year to $300 billion. As the Southeast Asian market continues to expand, many global investors have developed a fanatical interest in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market .

As several Southeast Asian technology startups seek to go public and raise funds , many global investors have invested in the fast-growing Southeast Asian technology sector by investing in startups worth tens of billions of dollars. Therefore , under the dual stimulation of market and investment, competition between Southeast Asian e-commerce and technology companies is very fierce .

Bukalapak, which has been facing stiff competition from Gojek and larger e-commerce rival Tokopedia, raised money at the same time as fellow Southeast Asian startup Grab announced the world’s largest-ever blank-check deal , a nearly $40 billion merger with SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp.

Southeast Asia

Financing

Microsoft