Page 28 - Forbes - Asia (March 2020)
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Tanuwijaya’s biggest step of all is a planned at a time when access was still relatively inconve-
IPO for Tokopedia, which could happen as ear- nient and expensive in Indonesia.
ly as this year and would make it the first of In- “I fell in love with the internet from then on—
donesia’s five unicorns to go public. The company it was a blessing in disguise, although it was also
has already announced that a round of fundrais- a struggle to study in the morning after working
26 ing underway this quarter—for an expected $1.5 all night long,” he says, adding that working the
billion—will be its last before the IPO. To prepare night shift inspired Tokopedia’s owl logo.
the company for a listing, the company last year In 2007, he got the idea of starting a site that
Y appointed Agus Martowardojo as its president William Tanuwijaya would allow anyone from across the archipelago
and Leontinus
OG commissioner. Alpha Edison during nation to easily sell their products online. He in-
Tokopedia's early days.
CHNOL vited his college buddy Leontinus Alpha Edison,
now 38, to join him. The pair registered the do-
TE main name Tokopedia, which combined the In-
donesian word for shop, toko, with “pedia.”
At first, Tanuwijaya and Edison could only de-
velop the site as a side project while working full-
time at content provider company PT Indocom
Mediatama, where Tanuwijaya was the IT and
business development manager and Edison the
general manager. While the site was still in devel-
opment, they asked their boss Victor Fungkong
to become an angel investor. At first skeptical,
Fungkong eventually took an 80% stake for 1 bil-
lion rupiah in 2009 (with the founders holding
the rest). The pair officially launched Tokopedia
on what they hoped would be an auspicious date:
August 17—Indonesia’s independence day. To-
day, Fungkong remains a shareholder, although
his ownership has been diluted.
This move gives Tokopedia a huge boost in In the early years, Tokopedia only had four em-
credibility, as Martowardojo is one of the most ployees, including Tanuwijaya and Edison, and
respected financial figures in the country. He was less than 100 merchants on the site. On week-
both Indonesia’s finance minister and head of its ends, Tanuwijaya and Edison would take turns
central bank, and ran one of its largest banks, running the site and sleep in shifts. A year after
Bank Mandiri, for five years. Tokopedia has said the launch, local investment firm East Ventures
that it would like to have a dual listing, on the In- became the first VC to invest in the company.
donesia Stock Exchange and one other, as yet un- “Ten years ago, Indonesia had nothing; no digital
announced, exchange. economy and no funding ecosystem. But Tanu-
An IPO would be a capstone on Tanuwijaya’s wijaya and Edison stood out when we met them
journey to build Tokopedia, which just passed its for the first time, the next day we sealed the deal.
one-decade mark in business last year. “Our first Their business model and numbers were similar COURTESY OF TOKOPEDIA
10-year vision is to be a technology company that to other early-stage startups, but their passion
helps anyone who wants to be an e-commerce and fire were different,” says Willson Cuaca, co-
company,” he says. founder and managing partner of East Ventures.
Tanuwijaya comes from Pematang Siantar, a
small city in North Sumatra. Upon graduating Tokopedia Funding History
from high school, his family sent him to study IT
at Jakarta’s Bina Nusantara University. Things
got tough when his father, who worked in a ciga- 2009 2010 2011
rette factory, contracted cancer in his sophomore
year. To make ends meet, he took a side job as SERIES ANGEL A B
an internet cafe operator. The shifts were long Amount 1 billion rupiah Undisclosed $700,000
and tiring, from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., but it also gave Funding by PT Indonusa East Ventures CyberAgent
Tanuwijaya a chance to learn about the internet, Dwitama Ventures
F ORBES A SIA MAR CH 2020
