Tokopedia Raises Fourth Round of Funding Led by SoftBank Ventures Korea
Indonesian e-commerce site Tokopedia announced this morning that it has closed its fourth round of funding in four years, led by SoftBank Ventures Korea. Since its inception the company has raised an undisclosed amount each year from different venture firms. East Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures, both investors from previous years, also participated in this round. Tokopedia aims to create a million jobs in five years as small businesses go online through its e-commerce platform.
Co-founded by William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Edison, Tokopedia claims to be the top online marketplace in the country by traffic and is among the top 50 most visited sites in Indonesia. Tanuwijaya said, "with this new funding we can focus to grow our platform to enable more individuals and small businesses in Indonesia to sell their products online and to build a strong Indonesian Internet brand in this fierce global competition market".
SoftBank Ventures Korea's chief of operations Daniel Kang sees Tokopedia becoming Indonesia's Taobao. "SoftBank Ventures Korea will support Tokopedia not only by providing growth capital but also by handing over experiences in this advanced market".
"We have been in touch for more than two years with SoftBank Ventures Korea, and we can now proudly welcome them to our shareholders team", said Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya.
SoftBank Ventures Korea is an investment arm of Japan's SoftBank, which is one of the shareholders of China's Alibaba, holding 30% equity in the company.