In a major top-deck reshuffle, Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak chief executive and co-founder Achmad Zaky is slated to step down from his role in January 2020, according to an announcement.
Zaky will be succeeded by Muhammad Rachmat Kaimuddin, who was most recently the director of finance and planning at Bank Bukopin at the archipelago. He served as a member of the Board of Commissioners at the same bank until his appointment as its director.
Kaimuddin’s appointment as the new CEO at Bukalapak will be effective from January 6, 2020, per a statement issued by the company.
Going forward, Zaky will continue to be an advisor at Bukalapak, a company he co-founded that’s currently riding on a valuation of over $2.5 billion. He will also continue to be a tech startup mentor, and chairman of soon-to-be-launched Achmad Zaky Foundation.
Meanwhile, other co-founders of Bukalapak, Fajrin Rasyid and Nugroho Herucahyono, will continue to stay on as president and chief technology officer, respectively.
“It is very humbling to be trusted by Bukalapak’s founders to succeed in Zaky’s critical role in the company and become part of its next growth chapter,” said Kaimuddin.
“I believe Bukalapak is the place where I can work with friends and colleagues to make positive changes for the nation and its people. I hope to bring Bukalapak to make an even greater impact on Indonesia.”
Kaimuddin, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University, began his career as a senior associate at global consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. He has also worked as managing director of PT Cardig Air Services. He has also served as the chief financial officer at PT Bosowa Corporindo.
He has also served stints at PT Semen Bosowa Maros (as managing director), Baring Private Equity Asia (as vice president) and Quvat (as principal).
“We started Bukalapak with a personal passion, to provide a positive impact to MSMEs. I am proud that within 10 years, Bukalapak is now on the global map as leading Indonesian e-commerce. Now, I am bringing in Rachmat who will take Bukalapak to our next level of greatness. We believe Rachmat is the right person, in the right team, for the right job, at the right time,” Zaky said in a statement.
Bukalapak recently grabbed headlines when it raised an undisclosed amount of funding in series F from South Korea’s Shinhan Group Indonesian media conglomerate Emtek, and an unnamed global institutional investor in early October.
Sources also told DealStreetAsia that the company has also held a discussion with Alibaba-backed Lazada for a proposed merger in Indonesia.
Bukalapak, which claims to have over 70 million active users, caters to more than five million micro and small enterprises across the country. It currently serves over 2.5 million mom-and-pop shops and individual agents.
The company, backed by Singapore’S GIC, China’s Ant Financial, and Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group, attained the status of a unicorn after a fundraising round in late 2017.
