JD.com invests in Vietnamese e-commerce platform Tiki

Beijing-based JD.com – China’s largest e-commerce company by revenue – is expanding its Southeast Asia footprint with an investment in Vietnam e-commerce platform Tiki.

JD.com said today it signed the share subscription agreement in Tiki’s recent financing round. Once the round closes, JD.com will be one of Tiki’s largest shareholders, and will partner with the Vietnamese platform on merchandising, cross-border trade, technology, financing, logistics and other operations.

“With JD’s expertise in leveraging social media for e-commerce, Tiki’s partnership with [Vietnamese technology company] VNG in social network and mobile payments is a natural fit as we aim to provide differentiated services to suppliers and consumers in Vietnam,” said Winston Cheng, president of the International division at JD.com.

According to JD.com, Tiki has consistently grown at triple the industry average over the past seven years, and has the goal of becoming Vietnam’s largest and most trusted e-commerce platform.

JD.com, which competes with e-commerce giant Alibaba in China, has been rapidly expanding its Southeast Asia business since 2015, when the company launched its business in Indonesia. JD.com also partnered with Thai conglomerate Central Group in 2017 to create an e-commerce joint venture, according to a Reuters report.