CEO of Indonesia e-commerce firm Bukalapak to step down

Shinhan Financial

09/12/2019 09:30

JAKARTA Dec 9 (Reuters) - Indonesian e-commerce firm
Bukalapak announced on Monday that chief executive and
co-founder Achmad Zaky will be stepping down from his role in
January 2020 and will be replaced by financier Rachmat
Kaimuddin.
    The startup, which was valued at over $2.5 billion during
its last fundraising round in October, is backed by Singapore
sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd  GIC.UL , China's Ant
Financial  ANTFIN.UL , and Korea's Shinhan Financial Group Co
Ltd  055550.KS .  L3N26P106  
    Bukalapak said in a statement that Zaky would be replaced
from Jan. 6 by Kaimuddin, a finance executive who most recently
was director of finance and planning for Indonesia's Bank
Bukopin  BBKP.JK .
    Zaky will establish a foundation and remain on as advisor,
the firm said. Other co-founders Fajrin Rasyid and Nugroho
Herucahyono will stay on as president and chief technology
officer.
    Surging smartphone use and rising middle-class income in a
country of 260 million people have made Indonesia's e-commerce
industry a battleground for foreign investors.
    The archipelago's internet economy is Southeast Asia's
fastest-growing and is likely to be worth $133 billion by 2025,
according to a 2019 report by Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O  Google,
Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd  TEM.UL 
and global business consultants Bain & Co.
    Bukalapak, which claims more than 70 million active users,
previously told Reuters it expected to break even in three
years' time, as it adds product segments and expands coverage in
small towns. 
    It said it now serves more than five million micro and small
enterprises across Indonesia and more than 2.5 million
mom-and-pop shops and individual agents.
    The company became a unicorn - a privately backed startup
valued above $1 billion - after a fundraising round in late
2017.
    

 (Reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
 ((f.potkin@thomsonreuters.com;))