Garena will use the new funds to further expand its e-commerce arm Shopee in the Indonesian market
The Singaporean shopping and online gaming company Garena today announced that it has raised a US$550 million round of funding, according to a report by Bloomberg.
GDP Venture, JG Summit Holdings Inc., Farallon Capital Management, Hillhouse Capital, Cathay Financial Holding Co., and the investment arm of Taiwanese food conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp. participated in the latest round for the Tencent-backed startup.
The company declined to share is valuation after this latest round.
Together with the new investment, Garena also introduced its new identity as Sea, which is an acronym for Southeast Asia.
In a press statement, Sea said that the majority of the new funds will be used to expand its e-commerce arm Shopee in Indonesia. It also stated that the online marketplace’s annualised gross merchandise value “has more than doubled” in the past nine months to more than US$3 billion.
Also Read: What factors lead to the success of Garena
As part of the company’s effort to expand in the Indonesian market, it also announced the appointment of three new advisors: former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo, former Indonesian trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu, and Pandu Sjahrir the director of the Indonesian coal producer PT Toba Bara Sejahtra Tbk.
The expansion plan will put Sea in head-to-head competition with Alibaba and its recent investment in Lazada, as well as with JD, with its rumoured investment in Tokopedia.
Last week, Tencent led a US$1.2 billion funding round in Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek.
As Sea, its most recent investment round (as Garena) was an undisclosed round from SeaTown Holdings International (SeaTown), GDP Venture, and Mistletoe. It has also raised a US$170 million Series D in 2016.
The company is also reportedly gearing up for a US$1 billion IPO in the US.
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