Bukalapak reportedly bags US$234m funding, looks to list in Indonesia

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Bukalapak has reportedly bagged a US$234 million funding led by Microsoft, GIC, and Indonesian media conglomerate Emtek, according to Reuters. Quoting its sources, Reuters also reported that Bukalapak is looking to list in Indonesia before eventually establishing a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the United States. Bukalapak's latest funding round was also said to include Standard Chartered's investment arm SC Ventures, as well as South Korean tech company Naver, Reuters added. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Bukalapak for additional information.

This comes months after Bukalapak's inked a partnership with Microsoft last November. In efforts to reshape the eCommerce landscape in Indonesia, the partnership sees Microsoft making an investment in Bukalapak, and Bukalapak adopting Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform. According to Bloomberg's sources then, the investment is valued at US$100 million. The partnership also sees Bukalapak leveraging Microsoft’s expertise in building a resilient cloud infrastructure to support its services for more than 12 million micro, small and medium enterprises, and 100 million customers. Additionally, Microsoft is also providing digital skills training for Bukalapak employees and its merchants.

Bukalapak's funding also comes as Indonesia's "decacorn" Gojek is reportedly in talks for a US$18 billion merger with Tokopedia. As of 9 April, both parties are currently seeking shareholders' approval for the proposed merger, Reuters said. This merger is said to be ahead of a potential dual listing in Jakarta and the United States. Bloomberg previously reported that the merged entity will create an Indonesian internet powerhouse, with businesses ranging from ride-hailing and payments to online shopping and delivery.

Separately, Grab also revealed plans to go public via a merger with SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp this week, raising about US$4.5 billion in cash and valuing Grab's shares at US$39.6 billion. According to Grab, this is expected to be the largest-ever US equity offering by a Southeast Asian company. Pursuant to the proposed transactions, Altimeter Growth and Grab will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of a new holding company.

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