Bukalapak

History

Bukalapak was co-founded in 2010 by Achmad Zaky after he graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology, together with his friend Nugroho Herucahyono. Bukalapak means "open a market stall" in Indonesian. Zaky's friend, Fajrin Rasyid, joined the duo to manage Bukalapak's finances. The premise of Bukalapak was simple—to digitise transactions for small businesses.

Bukalapak's early phase of development coincided with the popularity of fixie bikes, when many sellers in the community sold various types of bikes and biking accessories. Bukalapak focused on working with these sellers, which led to it being known as a marketplace for bikes at one point. It also contributed to the growth of its user base. The term "pelapak" is commonly used to describe the sellers working with Bukalapak. By 2013, the company recorded an average of IDR 500 million in daily transactions, and was working with more than 80,000 sellers.

In December 2019, Zaky announced his plan to resign, and officially resigned in January 2020, appointing Rachmat Kaimuddin as Bukalapak's new CEO. Herucahyono also resigned as CTO, later starting a venture fund for early-stage startups with Zaky. Rasjid departed in June 2020 to join Telkom Indonesia.

The departure of Bukalapak's entire co-founding team coincided with the laying off of employees. Hundreds of employees from its smart retail, internet of things, and marketing divisions were retrenched as part of a change in strategy. Kaimuddin is credited with recruiting blue chip venture capitalists and for leading the company's IPO in August 2021, which was the largest in Indonesia to date. He resigned four months later after be appointed as Technology and Sustainability Development Special Advisor Deputy at Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investments Affairs. Bukalapak's COO, Willix Halim took over as CEO.