À̹ÌÁö È®´ë A joint growth fund led by South Korea¡¯s top securities firm Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. and Internet giant Naver Corp. will invest $50 million in Indonesian e-commerce startup PT Bukalapak.com, Mirae Asset said on Wednesday.
Bukalapak – a Jakarta-based unicorn company valued at over $1 billion – operates an open market platform that connects merchandisers and buyers (consumers) online for a diverse range of products from financial items to mobile plans. More than 2 million transactions are made per day. The company has witnessed rapid growth in recent years with total transaction volume in the October-December period of last year already surpassing the amount for full 2017.
Its major shareholders are Ant Financial, the finance affiliate of China¡¯s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).
An unnamed official from Mirae Asset Capital Co. said that Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund will invest in the bourgeoning online to offline (O2O) mobile platform industry in Southeast Asia given that the fund is jointly invested by a financial and information technology firm.
The e-commerce market in Southeast Asia¡¯s biggest economy Indonesia has recently become an investment magnet as use of mobile Internet in the country has rapidly grown in recent years. China¡¯s Alibaba and Japan¡¯s SoftBank are aggressive global investors seeking for next unicorn companies in Indonesia¡¯s e-commerce industry.
The Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund aims to invest in industries that are bound to benefit from rising income and technology development in high growth countries such as those in Southeast Asia, India, and China.
In August, the fund invested $150 million in GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd., a leading ride-hailing services provider in Southeast Asia.
By Chung Seok-hwan and Lee Eun-joo
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