Bukalapak, one of the leading e-commerce companies in Indonesia, has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in iPrice, Southeast Asia’s price comparison platform.
The move is part of Bukalapak’s strategy to build or acquire niche marketplaces and accelerate their growth, rather than competing head-to-head with other marketplaces.
Through this strategic investment, iPrice can leverage the synergies between the two groups to accelerate its growth.
iPrice has been building a niche marketplace over the last eight years with a relentless focus on price-conscious consumers, earning it a loyal place in the hearts of Southeast Asia’s shoppers.
The platform helped over 100 million consumers across seven countries in Southeast Asia save money in 2022, using its proprietary technology to surface the best deals and discounts from more than eight billion offers.
“We are confident that we can unlock the platform’s full potential,” said Willix Halim, CEO of Bukalapak. “With Bukalapak’s extensive expertise in e-commerce and iPrice’s loyal user base and proprietary technology.”
iPrice will continue to operate as an independent entity, maintaining its neutral position towards users, and working with a broad set of merchants and sellers.
The iPrice investors, including Itochu and Naver, welcome the deal. The rapidly cooling fundraising market of last year forced iPrice to scale back on several aspects of its business and downsize the team substantially.
This transition will now be accelerated by Bukalapak group’s footing in a diverse set of verticals, opening up many new opportunities.
“We are excited to join forces with Bukalapak and benefit from the group’s synergies,” said Heinrich Wendel, co-founder of iPrice. “This partnership will allow us to expand our services to help even more users save money across new verticals, like Gaming, and geographies, like Australia.”
iPrice Group is Southeast Asia’s leading online shopping companion, serving more than 125 million unique users across eight countries/regions, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, and Australia.
