Alibaba Eats up Daraz

Alibaba Group has acquired south Asian e-commerce platform Daraz for an undisclosed sum.

This will make Daraz Group’s platform a wholly owned unit of the Chinese e-commerce provider, which also runs the Taobao and Tmall platforms.

“Together with Daraz, we can empower entrepreneurs to better serve consumers in the region through our technology and expertise,” says Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang.

Founded in 2012, Darez has grown throughout Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal. It has 30,000 sellers and 500 brands on its platform, with 2 million products available to its 5 million customers. Its product offerings range across consumer electronics, household goods, beauty, fashion, sports equipment and groceries. It also offers multiple payment options, including COD.

Daraz Co-CEO Jonathan Doerr says its acquisition by Alibaba will help drive further growth in its key markets, home to 460 million people, 60 per of which are 35 years and younger.

Daraz will continue to run under its brand name after the transaction.