Two Southeast Asian Unicorns, Voyager And GoTo, Raise Additional Capital Through IPO

Voyager Innovations and GoTo make the digital market in Southeast Asia more cheerful. (photo; twitter @voyager)

JAKARTA - Philippine technology startup Voyager Innovations said on Tuesday, April 12, that it had raised US$210 million (Rp3 trillion) in its latest funding round. This makes Voyager the second "unicorn" in the country with a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Voyager, which serves 47 million people through its consumer platform that includes e-wallet and digital payments, said the new capital will fund digital banking ventures and other services such as cryptocurrencies and micro-investments.

"SIG Venture Capital, the Asian venture capital arm of SIG, Singapore-based global investor EDBI, and investment holding company First Pacific Company Ltd, are participating in the funding round as a new investor," a Voyager source said.

Voyager's existing shareholders such as PLDT, private equity firm KKR & Co Inc, China's Tencent Holdings Ltd and International Finance Corp also joined in the initial capital injection.

"The latest funding raises Voyager's current valuation to $1.4 billion," the source said.

In June 2021, Voyager raised 167 million US dollars (Rp 2.3 trillion) for its expansion program, bringing in one IFC unit from the World Bank Group as a new investor.

Voyager's rival, Mynt, is the only other Philippine unicorn, or startup, to have reached a valuation of at least $1 billion. Mynt is partly owned by Globe Telecom, Bow Wave and Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial technology arm.

The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing fintech markets in Southeast Asia, with digital service adoption soaring during the pandemic. Its internet economy grew 93% to US$17 billion (Rp244.2 trillion) in 2021, and is expected to increase to US$40 billion (Rp574.7 trillion) by 2025, according to reports by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. .

Meanwhile, from Indonesia, Unicron Indonesia's GoTo valuation jumped by 23% in its market debut on Monday, April 11 after Indonesia's largest technology company raised US$1.1 billion (Rp15.8 trillion) in a closely watched IPO. This record has fueled expectations of more deals coming from sectors in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

According to Refinitiv, this initial public offering (IPO) is the fifth largest in the world this year.

PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk was formed by a merger last year between Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia, with its business straddling millions of small and medium-sized companies across the archipelago.

"There is no exact time for this IPO, but our focus is on Indonesia, with an audience of local investors," GoTo CEO Andre Soelistyo, a former private equity banker who directed Gojek's push towards consumer services, told reporters.

GoTo's shares rose to IDR 416 within minutes of the start of trading, compared to the IPO price of IDR 338. This share is only sold to investors in Indonesia, unlike most other domestic offerings, the stock ended at around 382 rupiah, up 13%.

The strong roster will propel the tech giants backing GoTo, including SoftBank Group's Vision Fund 1 and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which have been hit by a global market rout since late 2021.

This also underscores the attractiveness of the US$70 billion (Rp100.5 trillion) digital market in Indonesia, where record venture funding in the country has created a wave of startups.

"GoTo's IPO is an important moment for Indonesia," said Joel Shen, head of Asia technology at global law firm Withers.

Indonesian startups also considering challenging the market with IPOs include Binance-backed crypto firm TokoCrypto and online travel booking firm Tiket.com.

“Many Indonesian startups are watching today's IPO closely and I hope we will see another wave of Indonesian technology IPOs in the future,” said Shen.

GoTo is now the third most valuable company in Indonesia with a valuation of US$31.6 billion (Rp454 trillion), along with Telkom Indonesia, and after Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia.

"I hope the GoTo IPO can motivate our young generation to provide new energy for Indonesia's economic progress," said Indonesian President Joko Widodo in a video message at the IPO ceremony which began with a video of GoTo's leadership in a Gojek driver's uniform. ride an electric motorcycle.

GoTo's IPO benefited from an equity boom, with Jakarta's main index hitting a record Monday and up 9% so far this year, making it the best performing market in Asia.

GoTo's founders retained only a small stake after Gojek, Tokopedia and the combined company raised US$9 billion (Rp129.3 trillion) from investors including Alphabet's Google, Tencent, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The sharp drop in share prices in US-listed counterparts Grab Holdings and Sea, which operates across Southeast Asia, reduced GoTo's valuation as it proceeded with the offering. The three loss-making companies are under pressure for a near-term turnaround.

GoTo's main focus is Indonesia, where the digital economy is expected to grow almost five times from its current level, to reach US$330 billion (Rp4.7 quadrillion), by 2030

GoTo alone has 2.5 million drivers, 14 million merchants and 55 million annual transaction users, and has small operations in Singapore and Vietnam.

“We see significant room for GoTo to grow further, given its low market penetration and low frequency usage, and Indonesia's low average consumer spending,” said Nomura analyst Ahmad Maghfur Usman in a report, starting the coverage with a target price. IDR 416.

GoTo only sold about 4% of its stake, with investors subject to an eight-month lock-in, or two years for those who hold dual-class voting shares. It is the first to issue dual class voting shares, taking advantage of the new rules.

GoTo allocated shares to 600,000 drivers and said there are now a record 300,000 investors participating in the IPO.