Lei Dongming sat opposite Zhang Yida with a tired look on his face, sighed and said:
"I failed to live up to your expectations. Things didn't go well."
"No one has finished it?"
Zhang Yida took a sip of the tea placed on the table and asked.
"That's not true. There are still gains, but the two largest ones didn't win."
Lei Dongming shook his head, put his hands behind his head, lay on the soft sofa, looked at the ceiling, and sighed.
“We are not familiar with the markets in Southeast Asia, and we can’t become fat in one sitting.
Don't rush, take your time!
Tell us about your trip to Southeast Asia!”
Zhang Yida was not discouraged, but comforted Lei Dongming.
Some time ago, after Lei Dongming completed the domestic investment tasks ordered by Zhang Yida, he went to Southeast Asia again, traveling around the country in search of the unicorns Zhang Yida mentioned.
Lei Dongming thought for a while, sorted out his words, and began to say:
“The first time I went to Singapore was to visit Grab’s founder, Chen Bingyao.
Grab's current development momentum is very good. It just completed a US$250 million D round of financing from SoftBank last month, with a valuation of over US$1 billion.
We arrived a step late, but Chen Bingyao said that the funds are sufficient and there is no need for financing in the near future. We are welcome to participate in Grab's E-round financing."
Zhang Yida nodded to express his understanding, and felt a pang of regret in his heart. In his previous life, Grab was valued at over US$14 billion in 2019, making it the largest unicorn in Southeast Asia. The further you invest in the future, the more expensive the price will be and the lower the return will be.
But Zhang Yida knew that Lei Dongming's incompetence could not be blamed for this matter.
Grab is a popular company that everyone is eyeing. There is no shortage of investors. It is very difficult to get a foot in the door...
Lei Dongming also saw the development potential of Grab and felt it was a pity not to invest in it. He rubbed his temples and continued:
“Then I went to Lazada. In 2014, this company’s revenue was US$154.3 million, but its net operating loss was US$152.5 million.
Despite the huge losses, there are many investors who want to rush in.
Also last month, Temasek invested 200 million euros in it.
Alas, it’s too late again, we can’t get involved.”
Zhang Yida knows about Lazanda, and it seems that Ali will acquire it next year as a bridgehead into Southeast Asia.
Lei Dongming continued:
"I saw that there were no opportunities in Singapore, so I went to Indonesia again.
The first one I went to was Gojek, a taxi-hailing company, or "online ride-hailing company" that competes with Grab.
Last month they received US$10 million in Series A financing, with a valuation of US$50 million.
After chatting with their founder, he agreed to our additional $5 million in Series A+ financing.
At the same time, he also hopes that Ruixiang can establish some technical cooperation with their company, such as mobile payment..."
"You didn't take down Grab, but you took down Gojek?"
Zhang Yida was a little surprised. Gojek is not just a nobody, also known as Dog Jack. In its previous life, it was the unicorn company in Southeast Asia second only to Grab, with a valuation of US$9.5 billion.
A national-level application covering Indonesia's 260 million people, benchmarking against Chinese products, it is Didi + Magnesium Tuan + Paybay + 57 Home Delivery + Flash Delivery...
Google, Penguin, and Goudong combined invested more than one billion dollars in him. Rice and Magnesium Tuan are also his shareholders, and the shareholder lineup is very luxurious.
"You only invested US$5 million, and you don't even get 5% of the shares. Should you try to get more shares? Even if you can't get 20%, you should get 10%?"
Zhang Yida felt a little disadvantaged, so he asked Lei Dongming this way.
Lei Dongming smiled bitterly and said:
"I also want to invest more. It's not like we can't come up with US$10 million or US$20 million.
Their founder was too stubborn. I said I would invest more money in you, but he would not agree to it.
He said: They released 20% of the shares in the A round of financing, and a few points at most in the A+ round.”
After Zhang Yida heard what he said, he felt that he was too idealistic. He took a long breath and said:
"Just a few points! Go in first and get a spot. We will continue to increase our investment in the following rounds of financing.
By the way, you said they want to cooperate with us in mobile payment?"
"Yes, our country's mobile payment has begun to become famous all over the world, so naturally he has heard about it.
They make a motorcycle riding app and recruit a lot of riders. Passengers have to pay after riding and get a payment code or something, which will be much more convenient."
Lei Dongming explained to Zhang Yida.
"Okay, we will send a team to Southeast Asia after the year, and we will start to expand our business in Southeast Asia based on our cooperation with Gojek."
Zhang Yida smiled, he was really sleepy and someone gave him a pillow!
With Gojek tied up, the Indonesian market will no longer be able to escape.
Lei Dongming nodded and expressed his approval of Zhang Yida's approach, and then started talking about other companies:
“Tokopedia is an Indonesian C2C e-commerce platform founded in 2009. In October last year, it completed the E-round financing of US$100 million, with a valuation of approximately US$700 million.
After talking to their CEO, they said they needed to study and discuss it, but they have not given us a reply yet."
"Okay, continue to follow up. If they are willing to accept investment, just invest three to five thousand US dollars in it!"
Zhang Yida ordered like this.
Tokopedia is also one of Ahri's affiliates in Southeast Asia. Its valuation will rise to US$7.3 billion in a few years, making it worth a sale.
"Okay, I will continue to follow up. Next, let's talk about the Indonesian version of "Qunar"!"
Lei Dongming said with a smile that he went to Southeast Asia and found that many Internet companies' products can be compared with China.
continued:
“Traveloka was established in 2012 and currently provides online ticket booking, hotel room booking and other services.
Their Series A financing was in August 2013, raising several million US dollars.
Their CEO talked to me and they now want to get out of Indonesia and enter the markets of other Southeast Asian countries.
They are short of funds and urgently need a round of Series B financing to provide ammunition for their expansion plans.
They want to raise $50 million at a valuation of $400 million.
I haven't promised them yet, and I'm going to discuss it with you, what do you think?"
After speaking, Lei Dongming turned his attention to Zhang Yida, wanting to hear what he had to say.
Zhang Yida vaguely remembered that the valuation of this company in its previous life reached more than 4 billion U.S. dollars, and Goudong, Gaoling Capital, and Blackshirt Capital all invested in it.
So Zhang Yida said:
"You can promise them that you can try to get as many shares as possible, and it doesn't matter if you invest more money."
"Okay, I also think this company is very good. Travel to Southeast Asia is becoming more and more popular.
In the future, their size will be one-quarter or one-fifth of Ctrip’s, and we will also make a profit.”
Lei Dongming expressed his views.
Zhang Yida smiled and thought to himself, brother, you are really accurate in your calculations. In his previous life 19 years ago, his size was exactly one-fifth of Ctrip, which had a market value of US$20 billion.
"Then I went to Vietnam and visited the CEO of VNG."
Lei Dongming tilted his head and said, then looked at Zhang Yida with a puzzled expression, and said aggrievedly:
“Their CEO told me that there was no need for financing, and they received investment from Penguin in 2008.
Then in 2010, we raised another Series C round, and we haven’t raised any more funding since then.
From what he said, he was very rich.
Yida, is your information wrong? My trip to Vietnam was in vain."
"Um... maybe there is a mistake! They are a game company, right? Game companies are generally not short of money."
Zhang Yida said with some embarrassment that he roughly recalled the largest unicorns in Southeast Asia in his previous life, then gave Lei Dongming a list and asked him to go to Southeast Asia for inspection.
Now that I think about it, it’s indeed a bit too rough! It’s not too particular!
"Sea Nan?"
Zhang Yida is very interested in this group company. When Chen Ou was studying in Singapore, he founded the game battle platform GG-Game with his classmates. It was later renamed Garena and was also the predecessor of Sea Group.
Chen Ou later sold his shares in the company and went to study at Stanford University.
Later, he returned to China and founded Jumei, which brought him to a new peak in life.
In a few years, I will see Jumei in such a horrible state, and then I will see Sea in its full glory.
I wonder if Chen Ou will regret his original choice.
"No chance, Penguin holds 40% of the shares, and Sea is equivalent to his core agent in Southeast Asia."
Lei Dongming shook his head. He also came into contact with this company in Singapore.
The company is a good company, but it relies too much on Penguin.
“But in addition to games, I think they also launched AirPay service to enter the digital payment field, and launched Shopee service to enter the e-commerce field.
Penguin has made a good deal, and Sea will definitely achieve better results in a few years."
Lei Dongming once again expressed his views on Sea Group.
"Ahri won't let him be proud for long."
Zhang Yida shook his head. Shopee, Lazada and Tokopedia owned by Sea will continue to have a long e-commerce battle in Southeast Asia.
Behind the sea are penguins.
Behind Lazada is Ali.
Goudong is behind ToKopedia.
Another love and death that lasted for many years!
"You mean, Ahri wants to expand its business to Southeast Asia?"
Lei Dongming looked at Zhang Yida and asked.
"Jack Ma is very ambitious and has always wanted to make Ali a global enterprise. How could he not enter Southeast Asia? Africa, South America, and Europe may all be covered in the future."
Zhang Yida was filled with emotion and fascination when he thought of his past life when Ali was vigorously expanding its business around the world and Leech Financial was also racing around the world.
"Then we must seize the time to make arrangements and open up the situation in Southeast Asia as soon as possible."
Lei Dongming also has great ambitions. After inspecting the Southeast Asian market, he felt that there are many opportunities here, and Huayi Capital's business can also be expanded here.
Zhang Yida nodded and began to make calculations in his mind.
Four companies, Grab, Lazada, VNG, and Sea, have not been acquired. Gojek and Traveloka have confirmed their investment intentions, and Tokopedia is still waiting for a reply.
Of the first seven Southeast Asian unicorns identified, Lei Dongming won two or three.
Zhang Yida is quite satisfied with this result.
In a few years, these companies will become the most highly valued Internet companies in Southeast Asia, and you will make money if you buy them.
The most important thing is that Zhang Yida plans to use this as a springboard to gradually extend Ruixiang's business reach to Southeast Asia.
Financial investment returns are secondary, and the most important thing is strategic significance.
"If we want to invest in these companies in Southeast Asia, we will have to spend more than US$100 million. The money of Ruixiang Industrial Fund is somewhat insufficient."
Lei Dongming reminded.
"Oh, the first phase of the US$300 million industrial fund has been almost spent?"
Zhang Yida has not paid attention to this area of finance for a long time, and has only continued to provide lists of invested companies.
"In recent months, we have invested in more than 20 domestic companies, and we only have tens of millions of dollars left."
Lei Dongming also saw Zhang Yida's speed of spending money, and the US$300 million of Ruixiang Industrial Investment Fund suddenly bottomed out.