Indonesia is likely to welcome its fifth unicorn soon. JD.ID, the Indonesian e-commerce joint venture of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, is reportedly in talk with Go-Jek for a hundreds of millions of dollars capital injection that will value the company at around US$1 billion, if the planned investment pushes through, JD.ID will become the fifth unicorn – tech companies with a US$1 billion valuation price tag – in the country.
The investment, which has not been closed nor confirmed, will further expand the partnership of Go-Jek and JD.com in Indonesia, which started when the Chinese e-commerce giant invested about US$100 million in Go-Jek’s US$1.5-billion Series E funding round as part of efforts to tap growth in Southeast Asian mobile-based services. Go-Jek’s other major investors include Google, Tencent Holdings, and Temasek Holdings.
According to sources quoted by The Information, the two companies are now considering adding to Go-Jek’s app a direct link to JD.com’s Indonesian shopping site. The report also said that Go-Jek is planning to acquire a majority stake in an Indonesian logistics business partly owned by JD.com.
JD.ID started operations in Indonesia in November 2015 and now provides delivery services for products ordered at its site to 365 cities across Indonesia. The joint venture e-commerce site is majority owned by JD.com while the rest is owned by Provident Capital, a regional investment firm affiliated with an Indonesian conglomerate. The report said Go-Jek is likely to get into JD.ID as its second-largest shareholder by acquiring some of Provident Capital’s stake.
Go-Jek’s planned investment in JD.ID comes at a time when Indonesia’s e-commerce market is forecast to rise nearly eight-fold between 2017 and 2002. Last year, the country’s e-commerce market was valued at US$8 billion, according to a McKinsey report released in August.
A spokesperson for Go-Jek declined to comment citing the company’s practice of not commenting on rumour and speculation.
