Indonesia Weekly Review: 3 Archipelago Startup Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [25-30 September]

From mergers and acquisitions to funding and contests, here is the next edition of the Indonesia weekly review – your weekly dose of the latest happenings from the Indonesia startup ecosystem.

Lazada Expands Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace In Three Other Southeast Asian Countries

Online retailer Lazada Group has revealed its intentions to sell Taobao goods in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. As part of the existing partnership between the two ecommerce firms, Taobao collection will be offered in these Southeast Asian countries.

The products are curated to appeal to local tastes in the different countries and will be offered in the respective local languages on the Lazada sites, as stated by the company to media firm Jakarta Globe, in an official statement.

Lazada began selling Taobao products in Singapore and Malaysia earlier this year. In June, Alibaba invested an additional $1 Bn in Lazada to boost its stake to 83%.

Valuations Are Down And It Is Back To Business Fundamentals In Indonesia: A Report

Indonesia’s startup valuations have recently come down to a more justifiable level as investors and players are gradually moving their focus back to the fundamentals of businesses, a partner at Venturra Capital, Tee Plern Suraphongchai, said at Deal Street Asia’s Asia PE/VC Summit – Indonesia Panel in Singapore last week.

It is now believed that with large ecommerce players such as Tokopedia, Grab, and Go–Jek cementing their leading positions in the market, there has been greater likelihood now that exits can actually be generated at a greater value.

Panelists at the Indonesia session at the Asia PE/VC Summit also agreed that Indonesia remains appealing not only because it is the largest consumer-driven market i the SEA, but also because of having the best risk-reward ratio in the region.

Proterra To Partner With 10 Indonesian Food And Agri Firms

Proterra Investment Partners is ‘actively talking’ to about 10 Indonesian companies operating in the food and agriculture business for potential investments or partnership, as per a Deal Street Asia report.

Proterra currently manages about $200 – 300 Mn in investments in Indonesia, that is equivalent to about 10% of its total assets under management of $2.5 Bn.

The US-based investment firm is looking to increase this proportion as it sees Indonesia as a “very promising” region for its food and agriculture strategy.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Indonesia Weekly Review.

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