Alibaba fills up Lazada’s coffers in chase of European dreams?

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Over the last few years, Alibaba has had its hands full dealing with intense regulatory scrutiny, a slowing Chinese economy, headwinds from Covid-19 outbreaks, and heightened domestic competition.

These issues – not to mention inflation and an uneasy geopolitical climate – have seen the ecommerce behemoth’s market value plunge more than 60% in the last year.

Despite the fall, Alibaba’s market value still stands at nearly US$250 billion – a staggering figure for a firm that’s been through a bit of a rough patch. However, it remains difficult to mask the growing obstacles at home after Alibaba posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2014 earlier this year.

More than ever, Alibaba needs to strengthen its Southeast Asian ecommerce unit. The latest capital injection of US$378 million further illustrates this.

Today we look at:

• Lazada’s US$378 million funding boost from Alibaba
• Razorpay’s US$75 millin ESOP buyback scheme
• Other newsy highlights such as the missing bottom line in Akulaku’s results and Luckin Coffee refuting reports of a potential Hong Kong listing

Also, if you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding, fill out this form to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.

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Lazada’s EuroTrip

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Alibaba has strongly backed Lazada’s push for sustained growth in foreign markets. Tech in Asia previously calculated that Alibaba had injected about US$4.4 billion into its Southeast Asian unit between 2018 and 2020.

Now, the parent firm has provided Lazada with another timely funding boost of US$378 million, as the ecommerce arm eyes Europe for its first major expansion.

• A team effort: Jiang Fan, who heads Alibaba’s international digital commerce businesses (which include Lazada, AliExpress, and Alibaba.com), was in Singapore last month to discuss how to better use its overseas assets. Alibaba’s goal is to boost Lazada’s gross merchandise value fivefold to US$100 billion.

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