J&T Express Reportedly Obtained 35,6 Trillion Rupiah Funding, Reached "Decacorn" Milestone

Logistics startup J&T Express has reportedly received a funding round of $2,5 billion or equivalent to 35,6 trillion Rupiah with valuation reaches $20 billion (approximately IDR 285 trillion), alias already holds the title "decacorns". This fundraiser is part of J&T's plan to go public on the Hong Kong Exchange in the first quarter of 2022.

Based on reports Reuters, the funding was supported by a number of major investors, including Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group, and Sequoia Capital China. In addition, Chinese gaming and internet giant Tencent Holdings, as well as SIG China and Susquehanna International Group also participated.

"This fundraising is carried out in line with J&T's expansion steps into China and Latin America, in addition to plans to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange," said a number of undisclosed sources.

As is known, J&T Express plans to raise funds of $1 billion ahead of the IPO. Even, CB Insights reported that J&T had status unicorn a valuation of $7,8 billion last April.

The source revealed that J&T appointed Bank of America (BAC.N), China International Capital Corp., and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) to smooth the IPO plan.

Regarding the news, a number of investors involved refused to comment on the news Reuters, including Tencent and Sequioa China.

Logistics market competition

For your information, J&T Express was founded in 2015 by Jet Lee and Tony Chen, top executives of the Oppo mobile phone company, and has expanded its business to a number of countries in Southeast Asia. After Indonesia, J&T is already present in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.

For founder they use their previous experience to build a massive logistics network across Southeast Asia which is accelerating thanks to the popularity of the service e-commercee.

In 2020, J&T will enter the Chinese market and compete with leading logistics rivals, including SF Holding, ZTO Express, as well as the giant logistics network owned by Alibaba Group and JD.com.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, J&T is also competing with a number of logistics startups, including SiFast and Ninja Xpress, both of which take advantage of the trend E-commerce to accelerate their business. According to J&T CEO Robin Lo at the time, logistics services from the e-commerce business contributed 50% to the company's revenue in 2017.

E-commerce is the motor of the digital economy in Indonesia that continues to grow today. Based on the e-Conomy SEA 2021 research released by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the sector E-commerce is still the driver of the digital economy with 52% or $53 billion growth.