Alibaba Acquired Nepal’s Popular E-commerce Platform, Daraz. Image Source: Gadgetbyte Nepal

Alibaba Acquired Nepal’s Popular E-commerce Platform, Daraz

Alibaba Acquired Nepal’s Popular E-commerce Platform, Daraz. According to a statement by Rocket Internet, Pakistani parent company of Daraz, Alibaba, group of China has acquired Nepal’s one of the most popular e-commerce platforms, Daraz.


Alibaba Acquired Nepal’s Popular E-commerce Platform, Daraz


Alibaba has expanded its e-commerce empire into South Asia after the Chinese internet giant acquired Daraz. Daraz was founded in 2012 by Rocket Internet and today it operates in Pakistan as well as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Daraz has been operating in Nepal since 2014, it started off at Kaymu. It was renamed as Daraz in 2016 when Rocket Internet decided to merge these two platforms and create one Daraz group. It has 30,000 sellers and 500 brands on its platform, with 2 million products available to its 5 million customers. Daraz product offerings stretch across consumer electronics, household goods, beauty, fashion, sports equipment, and groceries. It also offers multiple payment options, including cash-on-delivery.

Rocket Internet said in a statement that the platform is catering to a combined population of over 460 million, 60% of the population is under the age of 35. Alibaba has acquired the entire Daraz business. An Alibaba spokesperson confirmed the deal but the company hasn’t made an official announcement.

The deal is the second time Alibaba has bought a Rocket company, the first being Lazada in Southeast Asia two years ago.

“Together with Alibaba, we are ready to empower entrepreneurs in the region and to fulfill our promise to offer our customers the best selection of products with a high-level of convenience,” said Daraz Co-CEO Jonathan Doerr.

“With hard work and dedication, we have started the e-commerce journey in our markets, but we have still only scratched the surface of the potential,” said Daraz Co-CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen.

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

 

Reference: Alizila