Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com pours $44 million in Tiki.vn

Tiki.vn receives substantial investment from Chinses JD.com to facilitate its expansion

According to newswire Nhipcaudautu, Tiki.vn has received an investment capital worth VND1 trillion ($44 million) from JD.com to serve its plans to expand its operations.

Accordingly, the investment capital may be used to invest in training human resources and optimise the transport process to and from its warehouses as well as to invest in a study on promoting the Tikinow service, which is Tiki’s fastest click-to-delivery service.

The added capital will help Tiki to consolidate its financial capacity to continue to compete with existing heavyweights like Sea’s Shoppee Vietnam and Alibaba’s Lazada Vietnam. Building on strong financial potential, both rivals have launched attractive promotion programmes in collaboration with free delivery for customers, aiming to safeguard their market share from newcomers planning to join the e-commerce sector.

Previously, in late October, Tiki surprised the market by shaking hands with FWD Life Insurance in the first deal in Vietnam between an online commercial website and an insurance firm, signalling a new distribution channel for insurers in this fast-growing market.

At the start of the partnership, FWD and Tiki will offer free online insurance products for 100,000 customers on Tiki.vn. Tiki's customers will be offered financial protection against the risk of death and accidental injuries via online personal accident insurance policies, with a three-month protection and a maximum payout of VND300 million ($13,203).

Tiki was established in 2010 as a startup e-bookstore but has since diversified to sell phones, tablets, digital devices, electrical appliances, toys, and souvenirs.

In May 2016, VNG Corporation, Vietnam's top provider of Internet content, completed a VND383-billion ($17.02 million) deal to acquire a 38 per cent stake in Tiki.

This was the second biggest deal reported among Vietnamese startups, after the $28-million funding that mobile wallet service MoMo recently received from British-owned Standard Chartered Private Equity and Goldman Sachs from the US.

Besides, it is now backed by Japanese investors Sumitomo Corporation and CyberAgent Ventures, which own a combined stake of 45 per cent, with Sumitomo holding 30 per cent and CyberAgent Ventures 15 per cent.

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