Tokopedia in talks to acquire wedding marketplace Bridestory, source says

Tokopedia, the Jakarta-headquartered ecommerce unicorn, is in talks to acquire Indonesian wedding marketplace Bridestory, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Tech in Asia. The deal, which is in the final stages, values Bridestory at between US$30 million to US$35 million.

Tech in Asia has reached out to both companies about this story, but Tokopedia declined to comment.

A sign at Bridestory Fair, one of the company’s offline events / Photo credit: Bridestory

Bridestory was founded in 2014 to cater to the country’s sizable wedding industry, a market valued at US$7 billion at the time. Founder Kevin Mintaraga got the idea while planning his own wedding. Instead of just creating Pinterest boards, as many couples do, Bridestory users can plan their big day by using the platform.

The company’s key product remains the online marketplace, where couples can find anything from venues to makeup artists and photographers. It has since expanded into a print magazine and a fintech feature called Bridestory Pay, as well as popular offline “wedding fairs” where customers can interact with vendors directly.

Bridestory has also ventured overseas. It’s currently in Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines, but if its online platform is any indication, vendors from multiple other countries can also create a profile.

Tokopedia and Bridestory count East Ventures as an investor. Bridestory’s other investors include Rocket Internet and Lippo-backed Venturra Capital, both of which participated in its undisclosed series A round in March 2015.

Tokopedia’s most recent fundraising round was in late 2018, securing US$1.1 billion from SoftBank and Alibaba. It also invested in Indonesian fintech startup Ovo earlier this year.