Microsoft to join $100 million investment in Indonesia’s Bukalapak

Microsoft and existing backers GIC Pte and PT Erlang Mahkota Teknologi, better known as Emtek Group, are investing at a valuation of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.

The U.S. company confirmed it was making a strategic investment in Bukalapak in a joint statement on Tuesday, though it didn’t disclose the amount. Under the partnership, Bukalapak will adopt Microsoft’s Azure as its preferred cloud platform to support its more than 12 million merchants and 100 million customers.

“Through this partnership, merchants and consumers will have a more efficient and reliable buying and selling experience,” Haris Izmee, president director of Microsoft Indonesia, said in the statement.

U.S. tech giants are increasingly turning their attention to Indonesia, seeking to tap a rapidly growing smartphone population in the world’s fourth most-populous country. Google has agreed to invest $350 million in e-commerce platform PT Tokopedia together with Temasek Holdings Pte, Bloomberg News reported last month. Facebook Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. have also injected an undisclosed amount of money into Indonesian ride-hailing giant Gojek.

The deal takes Bukalapak closer to its target of raising $200 million to bankroll an online expansion, one of the people said. The company is in discussions with other potential investors to secure additional capital, the people said.

Bukalapak’s other existing backers include Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. and South Korea’s Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

By Julia Fioretti and Yoolim Lee