aCommerce snaps up $5M in preparation for series B round

Earlier today, one of Southeast Asia’s largest ecommerce service providers aCommerce announced that it raised a bridge funding round of US$5 million, oversubscribed by existing shareholders. Investors in the round included Ardent Capital, Indonesian conglomerate Sinarmas, and Inspire Ventures.

According to the firm, the funding round is in preparation for a larger series B round set to take place in the second half of 2015. aCommerce previously raised US$10.7 million in June 2014 – one of the largest series A rounds on public record in Southeast Asia. The firm says that the demand for its services in Indonesia exceeded forecasts due to the rapid growth of new entrants to the market. aCommerce didn’t mention any names in its statement, but in the past it confirmed with Tech in Asia that Lippo Group’s MatahariMall is its largest client in the archipelago.

See: Indonesia’s MatahariMall is delayed until summer, banks help Lippo make good on funding claims

MatahariMall was supposed to launch sometime in March, but the site is now delayed until summer and Lippo says Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are raising US$200 million for the firm. That amount is undeniably part of the US$500 million it claimed to have already invested into the ecommerce site at the end of February.

The fresh capital for aCommerce will be used to ramp up areas in all three of its divisions: marketing, tech, and warehouse space. As a result, the Indonesian team is expected to exceed 300 staff. Tech in Asia is reaching out to aCommerce for more information and will release updates if necessary.