Street hawkers pave the way to Indonesia's first e-commerce IPO

Jakarta

THE first Indonesian e-commerce startup to go public will test investors' appetite for technology companies that hail from South-east Asia's largest economy.

PT Kioson Komersial Indonesia, which connects some 19,000 merchants in 300 cities with consumers, lists on Oct 3 after raising 45 billion rupiah (S$4.54 million). While small, its initial public offering provides a gauge of confidence in the archipelago's burgeoning startup industry, now dominated by private firms backed by the country's richest families.