Indonesian ecommerce site Bhinneka packs up $22m from Ideosource, targets IPO

Andi Boediman (right), managing partner of Ideosource, announces a $22m investment in Bhinneka.

Earlier today, on stage at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015, Indonesian ecommerce firm Bhinneka announced a US$22 million investment from local venture capital firm Ideosource.

The VC’s managing partner Andi S. Boediman told the audience the round is Ideosource’s largest investment to date. He added that his firm doesn’t exactly know what to call the investment in terms of series or stage, as Bhinneka has been completely self-funded since its inception in 1999, and is one of the only profitable big ecommerce businesses in the nation. He added that the company will seek to IPO.

As a result of the fresh funding, several prominent businesspeople in Jakarta will join Bhinneka. Betti Alisjahbana, former president director at IBM Indonesia will jump in as Bhinneka’s chairperson. Christian Van Schoote, former director at Central Retail Corporation and Mitra Adiperkasa Indonesia will take the role of COO. Heriyadi Janwar, former senior product marketing manager at Microsoft Indonesia will continue the position as Bhinneka’s VP of corporate sales, a role he’s had since July.

Bhinneka has 630 employees and Andi says it aims to hire some of the region’s top talents for its tech and marketing departments. Bhinneka specializes in computers and IT products, communications goods, and consumer electronics (3C). In the past, it was billed as Lazada Indonesia’s most formidable competitor, until Lazada gradually made the switch to a more mainstream ecommerce offering. Bhinneka, on the other hand, stuck with electronics, and is now looking to deepen its foothold and champion the niche in Jakarta.

Hitting ‘em from all sides

CEO Hendrik Tio says Bhinneka clocks around 180,000 visits per day with more than one million monthly active users. The store has seen 61 percent growth this year, and the site has more than 70,000 unique products listed.

“We are expecting to maintain those traction numbers in the upcoming year,” Hendrik tells Tech in Asia. “By maintaining our focus on 3C, we are trusted by the biggest brands […] In the future, for sure, competition will grow tougher but we do believe this market is big enough. That’s why we don’t believe in a winner takes all game.”

See: Battling against Rocket Internet, Bhinneka wants to be Indonesia’s AmazonBhinneka is not just a purely online player. It also runs brick-and-mortar electronics stores throughout Indonesia. Last March, it launched its own marketplace for brands and businesses to sell directly through the site. “We are excited with our current marketplace,” says Hendrik. “We are preparing a few initiatives with local and global players through partnerships and joint ventures.”

“Bhinneka has a strong and reputable brand in Indonesia as an online-to-offline [O2O] firm for 3C,” says Andi from Ideosource. He adds, “Being a pioneer in Indonesian ecommerce, Bhinneka has a proven track record in serving Indonesian consumers, businesses, and the government. We believe it gives them an unmatched advantage in understanding and winning the market.”

O2O is here to stay, deal with it

Hendrik and Andi have known each other for more than 15 years. “We think we have a lot of chemistry between us,” says Hendrik. “On top of that, Ideosource brings a lot of value to the table apart from just money. They also bring a lot of technology expertise, network capital, and talents that we can now tap into.”

Marching to a different ecommerce beat