In 2009 Tomy Yunus Tjen went to Beijing to study Mandarin. At the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture Center he met Yohan Limerta, who later became his co-founder and the CTO of Cakap.
The two started Squline, a platform for learning Mandarin. In 2019 it was renamed Cakap and expanded to English and other languages, taught by live online tutors.
At the end of 2020 Cakap raised a $3 million Series A+ from Heritas Venture Fund. In December 2021 it raised a $10 million Series B from Centauri Fund, formed by MDI Ventures and KB Investment, and Heritas Capital.
In 2024 Tjen and Limerta were named to Fortune Indonesia's 40 Under 40 list. In 2025 both were finalists for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Indonesia.