Update: Disdus was backed by East Ventures which is also the venture capital’s first exit. Congrats!
Penn Olson’s Joshua Kevin recently wrote about the Groupon clones in Indonesia: “The number of Groupon clones that have mushroomed over the years is amazing, and I believe it’s just a start. The question is how many would survive once the real Groupon enters Indonesia? Which Groupon clone will get acquired and which will perish?”
We got the answer today, fresh from the oven, as I just ended my call with Jason, co-founder of Disdus.
Groupon has acquired Disdus, one of the largest (if not the largest) Groupon clones in Indonesia. The acquisition amount is undisclosed.
“We were in talks with Groupon for the past 2 to 3 months, mainly to settle legal and terms within the deal. It was officially closed about a week ago,” said Jason through a phone call.
The acquisition is similar to Beeconomics (Singapore) and Groupmore (Malaysia). “Ferry and I will be running the company as usual,” said Jason.
“We plan to increase market share by educating more users and expanding to more cities. The current site will eventually follow Groupon’s design. For now, it will still be operating under Disdus.com. We will also follow Groupon’s best practices in our daily operations,” Jason told us when asked about Disdus’s future plans.
“Within months of its launch Disdus quickly became a market leader and a first-class example of collective buying,” said Rob Solomon, president and chief operating officer of Groupon. “Groupon Indonesia will leverage the power of the Groupon network to further shape the way local merchants market themselves to customers throughout Southeast Asia.”
Groupon owns the domain Groupon.co.id which is currently redirected to Groupon.sg. So, there you go. Disdus emerged as the winner among the Groupon clones in Indonesia.
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