Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Invests In Indonesian Ecommerce Company: What Investors Should Know

One of the richest people in the world gained his wealth by creating a leading ecommerce company. He is also among the investors in an Indonesian ecommerce company, but is doing so on his own and not with his company.

What Happened: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), is among the investors in a new funding round for Indonesian ecommerce startup Ula, according to TechCrunch.

Ula, which has raised over $30 million since launching last year, is said to be in the process of raising $80 million.

Ula was founded by former employees from Flipkart, Amazon and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The company helps small retailers in Indonesia with supply chain, inventory and working capital. It is one of several Indonesian ecommerce companies growing in the region.

Previous investors in Ula include Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Ventures.

Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY), B Capital and Prosus Ventures are the leaders in the rumored funding round. 

Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Jeff Bezos

Why It’s Important: The investment is reported to be by Bezos through his family office Bezos Expeditions. Some may question the investment by Bezos and not by Amazon.com itself.

Amazon.com does not have operations in many Southeast Asian countries.

Tokopedia, a leading Indonesian ecommerce company, was previously rumored to going public with SPAC Bridgetown Holdings (NASDAQ: BTWN). Tokopedia merged with ride-hail company Gojek, combining two of the largest companies in Indonesia.

Other Indonesian ecommerce companies include Lazarda Group, owned by Alibaba Group Holdings (NYSE: BABA) and Shopee, owned by Sea Limited (NYSE: SE).