Indonesia tycoon teams up with Bukalapak for online grocery push: sources

[SINGAPORE] Tycoon Chairul Tanjung’s CT conglomerate is teaming up with Internet company Bukalapak.com for an online grocery venture as e-commerce gains ground in Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Closely held CT’s supermarket unit Trans Retail Indonesia is driving the push with Bukalapak, and private equity firm Growtheum Capital Partners is joining the pact, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. The companies will together invest 1 trillion rupiah (S$94 million) into the venture called AlloFresh, with Trans Retail owning 55 per cent, Bukalapak 35 per cent and Growtheum 10 per cent, they said.

The pact opens a new revenue source for both Trans Retail and e-commerce company Bukalapak, which has lost more than half its value since raising US$1.5 billion in Indonesia’s largest public offering last year. Indonesia is the largest market in South-east Asia’s booming digital economy, where e-commerce is drawing tens of millions of new users online.

AlloFresh customers will be able to order groceries through a mobile app and its website or by scanning items inside the physical store, the people said. The items will be packed and delivered by ride-hailing giant Grab Holdings, a business partner of AlloFresh, they said. About 10 million mom-and-pop stores that Bukalapak serves will also be able to order groceries from AlloFresh, they said.

Representatives for Bukalapak and Growtheum declined to comment, while officials at Trans Retail weren’t immediately reachable during a public holiday in Indonesia.

It’s not the first time the 3 companies are teaming up to capitalise on Indonesia’s fast-growing online market. Bukalapak and Growtheum were among the companies that participated in a rights issue of Allo Bank Indonesia, a digital bank owned by Tanjung.

Growtheum was founded last year by Amit Kunal, a former managing director and head of private equity in South-east Asia at GIC, and his partners. BLOOMBERG