From last year, Grab and Gojek merger negotiations have received much attention, but rumour has it that the talks did not go well. So Gojek turned to Tokopedia for a potential merger, trying to build a super app encompassing ride hailing, mobile payment and e-commerce – and a potentially SPAC-sponsored-IPO.
Softbank and Alibaba backed Tokopedia was once the leading C2C ecommerce player in Indonesia, and an inspiring story of entrepreneurship in Indonesia. It has recently faced a lot of pressure from Shopee, part of the US$100 billion-valued SEA group.
Tokopedia has appointed Morgan Stanley and Citi for its IPO process – one of the options is through Peter Thiel and Richard Li backed SPAC Bridgetown Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: BTWN). This will not be a surprise given the potential link of Tokopedia’s third largest shareholder to the Li family.
A successful IPO will alleviate the business pressure from Shopee, though the latter remains a much larger player.
Although adding Gojek to the picture might not make sense. CEO of Momentum Works, Jianggan Li has also written an opinion piece on South China Morning Post about the viability of the Gojek-Tokopedia merger.
We have previously written on the new investors of Gojek and now, with the merger talks happening, let’s take a look at the main investors of Tokopedia.
Who are the major investors of Tokopedia?
In the table above, we can see that SoftBank has participated in multiple rounds of investment in Tokopedia through various funds/investment institutions and became its largest shareholder, followed by Alibaba.
Among several major shareholders, Cayman-registered Radiant is the most mysterious. This company holds 10.6% of the shares through its subsidiaries Radiant Pioneer, Radiant Trinity, and Radiant Yield.
We can also see Sequoia India, East Ventures, Temasek, Insight Capital and other more active venture capital players in Southeast Asia. At the same time, its shareholders also include global Internet giant Google, Macquarie Group from Australia and Japanese cross-border e-commerce player Beenos.
The two founders William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison hold 4.66% and 1.9% of Tokopedia respectively.
Compared to Gojek, Tokopedia’s cap table is much cleaner.
Top ten shareholders:
- Softbank and associates (35.35%)
The largest shareholder is no doubt Softbank, who is also a major backer of Grab. Many different funds/vehicles under or associated with Softbank, including the Global Opportunity Private Equity Fund, Softbank Global Champ Fund and Softbank Vision Fund etc make up the large percentage.
- Alibaba Group (28.25%)
It’s subsidiary, Taobao China Holding Limited, invested in rounds A,D,E and G; taking a stake of 28.25%. Alibaba hijacked a potential investment by rival JD.com in 2017 and has been topping up afterwards. It also owns Lazada, the regional B2C ecommerce platform.
- Radiant (10.60%)
Cayman-registered Radiant holds shares through three different entities: Radiant Pioneer, Radiant Trinity, and Radiant Yield Limited. This could be linked to Richard Li’s family as we’ve found this:
- Sequoia (8.05%)
Sequoia India is also an early backer of GoJek. It participated in three rounds of funding for Tokopedia through a number of different vehicles. It is now one of the most aggressive venture funds in Southeast Asia, backing startups from early to growth stages.
- William Tanuwijaya (4.66%)
The founder of Tokopedia still holds 4.66%, that is higher than a few other founders at this stage in the region.
- Anderson Investments (3.28%)
Anderson Investments is part of Temasek Holdings, owned by the government of Singapore. Temasek manages a portfolio of about S$306 billion. (US$230 billion)
Singapore state has been a very active tech investor in the region and beyond. Another Singapore sovereign investment entity, GIC (Government Investment Corporation), is the largest shareholder of Gojek.
- Leontinus Alpha Edison (1.90%)
Co-founder and a director of Tokopedia. He comes from an IT background and has been with Tokopedia since 2009.
- Google (1.64%)
Google is also the second largest shareholder of Gojek.
- East Ventures (1.08 %)
East Ventures is one of the earliest (and most prolific) Indonesia-based venture capital firms. In addition to Tokopedia, it has backed Indonesian and regional companies including Ruangguru, Sayurbox, Shopback, Sociolla, Traveloka and Warung Pintar.
- Dream Fund (1.00%)
Another Cayman registered vehicle.