Is Something Really Brewing Between Tokopedia and Bridestory?

DealStreetAsia today comes up with a story about possible 100 per cent acquisition of leading wedding marketplace Bridestory by the leading general marketplace Tokopedia. While we still puzzle on why this transaction may (or may not) happen, we do hear similar thing from the street. At least three different sources have told us about this story way before DealStreetAsia publishes its article, but CEO from both side are not keen to share the details.

Answering DailySocial's question, Kevin Mintaraga, Bridestory's CEO, said we receive "a wrong information", while William Tanuwijaya, Tokopedia's CEO, shortly said he doesn't comment on market rumor.

While both are marketplace, Tokopedia and Bridestory serve different market. With low possibility of acqui-hire (some employees may share function in both companies), Bridestory is currently the market leader, one possible guess is they team up to dominate their respective market.

Tokopedia has sufficient cash in its war chest, while telling media about acquisition is not part of its culture. We recognize at least one acquisition (acqui-hire to be exact) has been made in the past and no official statement is released until today.

Founded in 2014, Bridestory is led by Mintaraga and Doni Hanafi. With no disclosed amount of total funding after at least four funding round, including angel round, DealStreetAsia said Bridestory's likely valuation will be up to $50 million -- a modest amount since Tokopedia has the second highest valuation among startups in Indonesia with $7 billion, after the latest funding led by Softbank Vision Fund and Alibaba last year.