Tokopedia acquires Bridestory and Parentstory to reach new market segments

Tokopedia has acquired wedding marketplace Bridestory and children activity marketplace Parentstory to reach new market segments and provide greater value to its users. According to a press release, Tokopedia will help their vendors grow and evolve through technology to better serve couples and parents.Through the acquisition, Bridestory and Parentstory will be able to synergise their services and harness Tokopedia’s platform and ecosystem to further expand their reach. Moreover, Bridestory partners will be able to utilise Tokopedia platform for their interests in presenting their products and services. Correspondingly, Parentstory users, as well as partners, can get inspiration and purchase various choices of children’s activities through Tokopedia.Tokopedia co-founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya said: “As a technology company, in the first ten years, Tokopedia has been dedicated to helping business owners become e-commerce based businesses. For the next ten years, Tokopedia strives to help every business in Indonesia evolve into technology-based businesses.”Bridestory connects future brides with curated wedding vendors and suppliers, while Parentstory has a membership system to help parents find the best activities for their children. As part of the acquisition, Tokopedia obtained the physical and digital rights to all assets from Bridestory and Parentstory, including intellectual property, and human resources.While Bridestory and Parentstory will continue to operate independently in Indonesia, Bridestory founder and CEO Kevin Mintaraga will be introduced into Tokopedia’s management as vice president. Meanwhile, Bridestory co-founder Doni Hanafi will take up the position of COO of Bridestory.“At Bridestory, we have a mission to realise the dream wedding of every bride and help the vendors of wedding products and services to connect with brides-to-be and grooms-to-be. We warmly welcome the synergy between Bridestory and Parentstory with Tokopedia. We believe this fellowship will amplify and strengthen each other’s purpose in realising both parties’ mission,” said Mintaraga.Since its establishment in 2014, Bridestory has connected over 3.5 million brides with more than 20,000 providers of curated wedding products and services. Furthermore, the annual Bridestory Market event has become one of the largest wedding exhibition in Southeast Asia. Parentstory is the latest initiative from Bridestory introduced for parents in October last year.