The Indonesian unicorn is said to raise new US$1 billion worth of funding from SoftBank and other existing backers
Indonesia’s online marketplace Tokopedia set a new record after reportedly raising US$1 billion worth of investment from its current investors, which include major names like SoftBank. Bloomberg first reported that now the company is valued at about US$7 billion after the round, according to a private source.
It isn’t clear yet if the funding comes from SoftBank Group Corp. or its Vision Fund, the Tokyo-based company which is the newest Tokopedia’s backer.
Tokopedia found success by capitalizing on the smartphone vast adoption Indonesia has experienced and the online shopping reliability.
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Co-founded by William Tanuwijaya in 2009, Tokopedia put itself on the map as top competitors of Alibaba Group’s Lazada and Bukalapak with the latter recently being funded by Singapore’s Sea Ltd.
Until now, Softbank and Tokopedia still declined to comment on the news.
Tokopedia has been sitting on number 1 in the third quarter this year, followed by Bukalapak, Shopee, and Lazada, according to market researcher iPrice Group’s data.
The sentimental connection between Tokopedia’s Tanuwijaya made the news when the co-founder shared about his first meeting with SoftBank’s billionaire founder Masayoshi Son as a turning point for the company in 2014 just right after Tanuwijaya failed 11 pitches to get funding for his idea.
“Masayoshi Son was there, asking me what I thought of the future. He didn’t care about my past,” said Tanuwijaya.
Also Read: [Updated] Tokopedia, OVO team up to offer the payment service on the e-commerce platform
Tokopedia facilitates a platform where customers can buy from existing merchants instead of brick-and-mortar transaction. It offers electronics, clothing, and health-care items, selling train tickets and giving customers convenience for data top up, and now also has its own e-wallet deal with Ovo.
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Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
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Source: E27