The first big job Achmad Zaky did as an ITB student paid IDR 1.5 million. It was quick-count software for a television station watching a national election. Another early venture, a noodle-making business, failed.
He was born in 1986 in Sragen, Central Java, and started learning computers in 1997 from books and a machine his uncle gave him. At State High School 1 in Solo he won the National Science Olympiad in computer science. Then came the Bandung Institute of Technology, informatics engineering. He graduated and set up a consulting company called Suitmedia.
About six months later the stock had lost nearly 66%, CEO Rachmat Kaimuddin resigned four months after listing and hundreds of staff were laid off.
Bukalapak, which means open a market stall, began in 2010 with Nugroho Herucahyono. The premise was to digitise small-business transactions. Early traction came from an unlikely corner: fixie bike sellers, which briefly made it known as a bike marketplace. Fajrin Rasyid joined to run the money.
What almost nobody mentions is who made the early cheque. In June 2011 Takeshi Ebihara, a Japanese venture capitalist who had mentored the founders, invested Rp2 billion. The mentor came first, the money second. By 2013 daily transactions averaged around Rp500 million with more than 80,000 sellers. In 2014 Emtek joined the Series A, other backers included 500 Startups and GREE Ventures, and in November 2020 Microsoft added US$100 million.
Then the company changed shape. Zaky resigned in January 2020, Nugroho stepped down as CTO, and Rasyid left for Telkom Indonesia in June. The IPO in 2021 was the biggest on the Indonesian exchange at the time, up to US$1.5 billion. About six months later the stock had lost nearly 66%, CEO Rachmat Kaimuddin resigned four months after listing and hundreds of staff were laid off. 2021 revenue was Rp1.9 trillion.
The takeaway for a young founder: noodles failed and a bike marketplace worked, and a mentor stood behind both. Early failures are cheap tuition, and an early believer often matters more than an early cheque.