Indonesia’s e-commerce scene heats up as Tokopedia secures US$1.1 billion from Alibaba, SoftBank
- Investment will go into technology and infrastructure, CEO William Tanuwijaya says
- Latest funding boosts Alibaba’s share of the fast-growing Indonesian e-commerce market
Indonesian e-commerce company Tokopedia said on Wednesday that it had secured US$1.1 billion in its latest funding round led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.
This follows a similar investment in 2017, also led by Alibaba, which has been expanding rapidly into Southeast Asia amid slowing growth in China’s e-commerce market. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
Tokopedia said it planned to use the funds to invest in technology and infrastructure, adding the firm would continue to focus on the Indonesian market and drive economic development and financial inclusion in the country.
The investment would help “broaden Tokopedia’s scale and reach” besides improving its operational efficiency, CEO and co-founder William Tanuwijaya said in a statement.
Tokopedia did not confirm a valuation following the round. However, news website TechCrunch citing an unnamed source said the company was valued at around US$7 billion.
