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Hello reader,
Like many people who hail from the island of Ireland, I’m immensely enjoying the England football team’s struggles at the European Championships. It’s a biennial summer tradition to revel in for those of us subjected to UK media.
England may be unbeaten at the time of writing, but the big story in the UK press seems to be that the team’s potential is being wasted. It’s a captivating narrative to be sure.
Few in Indonesia are likely cheering the reality that ecommerce firm Tokopedia hasn’t reached the heights it could have, but that doesn’t make it any less of a big story.
The GoTo Group (GOTO, IDX)-owned firm was the darling of Indonesia’s startup scene, raising US$1.1 billion from tech majors SoftBank (9984, TYO) and Alibaba (BABA, NYSE) in 2018. But since then, the firm has been acquired by ByteDance, a foreign company, at a much lower valuation than it once held.
The ecommerce firm has also seen its monthly active user count fall from north of 100 million to 18 million, and the combined entity with TikTok Shop recently carried out sweeping layoffs, reportedly impacting 450 people.
Today’s Big Story dives into just how Tokopedia ended up in a predicament few would have predicted just a few years ago.
— Peter
THE BIG STORY
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Did Tokopedia waste its potential?
In late 2018, Tokopedia was Indonesia’s startup darling. Last December, it was bought at a fraction of its former valuation. What happened?
3 Trends to keep an eye on
Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
2 Eye-popping facts
The one you didn’t see coming
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