Adia leads Indonesia's GoTo pre-IPO funding with $400m investment

The deal is the largest investment by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund in South-East Asia's largest economy

Indonesian e-commerce operator Bukalapak went public in August after raising $1. 5 billion in the country's biggest IPO. Bloomberg

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is investing $400 million to lead a pre-initial public offering fundraising round by Indonesia's biggest technology company GoTo, the sovereign wealth fund said.

This is the first principal investment by Adia’s private equities department in the technology business in South-East Asia and its largest investment in Indonesia, it said on Wednesday.

“This investment in GoTo is aligned with a number of our key investment themes, including the growth of the digital economy in the fast-growing markets of South-East Asia," said Hamad Al Dhaheri, executive director of the private equities department of Adia.

"We see strong potential in the region, particularly in Indonesia where the vibrant economic backdrop is encouraging Adia to continue to deepen its presence. We have been closely following the work that Gojek and Tokopedia have done to spur economic development and innovation in the region even before they came together, and are very excited to partner with the combined GoTo and its management team in the next phase of its development."

With this investment, Adia which invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, joins other existing GoTo investors such as Alibaba, Astra International, Facebook, Global Digital Niaga, Google, KKR, PayPal, Sequoia Capital India, SoftBank Vision Fund 1, Telkomsel, Temasek, Tencent and Warburg Pincus.

GoTo was formed in May 2021 through the merger of the country’s largest start-ups, Gojek and Tokopedia, in an $18 billion deal.

Indonesia, South-East Asia's largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous country, has about 221 million e-commerce users who make up about 77 per cent of the total population. They spend an average of $240 each online every year, which is forecast to grow to $254 by 2025, according to Statista.

Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to be worth $124bn by 2025, according to a recent study by Bain, Google and Temasek.

In August, e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak went public and raised $1.5bn in the country's biggest initial listing. The company is backed by the Ant Group, Singapore's sovereign fund GIC and local media and technology conglomerate Emtek.

Other prominent e-commerce companies in the country include Tokopedia, Sea’s Shopee and Alibaba’s Lazada.

“We are proud to welcome Adia as the latest investor in our company and the first in our pre-IPO fundraising as we prime our business for exponential growth over the coming months and years. Backing of this scale underlines our belief that Indonesia and South-East Asia are emerging as the next great destinations for tech investment," said Andre Soelistyo, GoTo Group chief executive.

Indonesia's economy is forecast to grow 3.2 per cent this year and 5.9 per cent in 2022 as it recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the International Monetary Fund. The country's economy rebounded at its fastest pace in the second quarter of this year since 2008.