Online marketplace Tiki gets US$130 million funding

Vietnamese online marketplace Tiki has successfully raised US$130 million in its latest funding round led by Northstar Group.

According to Deal Street Asia, the total value of the investment may increase by a further $20 million.

Founded in 2003, Northstar Group is a Singapore-based private equity firm, currently investing US$3 billion in more than 30 companies across Southeast Asia.

Recently, online marketplace Tiki and rival platform Sendo informed authorities of a proposed merger scheme amid intense competition in Vietnam’s e-commerce market, with two strong rivals Lazada and Shopee. However, neither company has commented further on the plan.

Although Tiki has received large investment amounts, the company is locally referred to as a “money-burning machine”. It accumulated a loss of $60.9 million last year.