Who are the major shareholders of Bukalapak?

One of the major e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, Bukalapak has come a long way since it was founded in 2010. 

Since its inception, the platform had a noble vision of enabling and empowering Indonesia’s warungs and SMEs. As a result, it has differentiated itself from major players such as Shopee; reports are saying that 85% of the customers of Bukalapak do not overlap with other platforms. 

We wrote about Bukalapak on TLD in 2018. And according to Momentum Works’ latest  Blooming e-commerce in Indonesia report, Bukalapak is currently the fourth largest marketplace in Indonesia in GMV terms, achieving $3 billion last year. 

The company is also one of the unicorn candidates for IPO in 2021. According to recent media reports, they are filing to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) by August 2021.

Although Bukalapak has carved out a niche, its competitors will not let it stay there. Tokopedia has merged with Gojek for listing too, and Shopee’s parent SEA Group has seen its market cap balloon to more than US$130 billion. 

We have written about major investors of Tokopedia and Gojek, as well as the biggest shareholders of GoTo; with Bukalapak’s domestic IPO on the near horizon, we figured that we should take a look at the main shareholders of Bukalapak as well.

Who are the major shareholders of Bukalapak?

Though Bukalapak is often branded as the Microsoft-backed unicorn, the US tech giant only holds a 1.2% stake in the company. Some are saying that Microsoft’s main objective is to sell Azure, its cloud computing platform. 

The tech giant that actually holds the cards at Bukalapak is the Ant Group, which controls 17% of its stocks through its subsidiary, API (Hong Kong) Investment Limited. Unsurprisingly, the only investor with a bigger percentage of shares than API (Hong Kong) is EMTEK, the media giant which has worked closely with Ant, also through wallet joint venture Dana.

All three co-founders – Achmad Zaky Syaifudin, Muhamad Fajrin Rayid, and Nugroho Herucahyono – also break into the top ten, with Achmad Zaky, the only founder to remain at Bukalapak (albeit in an advisory role), having the highest number of shares (5.76%).

Among these major shareholders, UBS Group AG holds our greatest interest. Its London branch holds an estimated 2.5% stake in Bukalapak, but the bank is serving as a proxy for an unidentified client.

Completing the list are venture capitalists that are active in the Southeast Asia region, including Batavia Incubator (the first seed investor of Bukalapak), Archipelago Investment Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of GIC), and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

Top ten shareholders:

1. PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi TBK (EMTEK) (31.90%)

With the media conglomerate EMTEK acquiring a 49% stake in Bukalapak in 2015, it’s little surprise that EMTEK remains the biggest shareholder of Bukalapak. It has not been diluted too much over the past six years. 

2. API (Hong Kong) Investment Limited (17.40%)

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Ant Group that reveals how closely involved Alibaba is with the Indonesian e-commerce scene; the tech giant also owns Lazada and holds the second-biggest percentage of shares of Tokopedia. 

3. Archipelago Investment Pte Ltd (12.60%)

Archipelago Investment Pte Ltd is part of Government Investment Corporation (GIC), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, which happens to be Gojek’s largest shareholder as well. Considering how Anderson Investments, another subsidiary of a Singapore-owned holding company, is a major investor in Tokopedia, we can also see how aggressively the Singapore state has invested in tech firms in Southeast Asia.

4. Achmad Zaky Syaifudin (5.76%)

With a 5.76% stake in the company, the last remaining co-founder at Bukalapak is also its largest individual shareholder.

5. New Hope OCA Ltd (4.22%)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, New Hope OCA Ltd is one of the many offshoots of New Hope Group, a Chinese conglomerate with over 500 subsidiaries across industries such as agriculture, dairy, and real estate.

6. Muhamad Fajrin Rayid (3.53%)

One of three co-founders of Bukalapak, Fajrin served as both its CFO and President before leaving in 2020 to become a director of the state-owned PT Telekomunikasi (Telkom).

7. Batavia Incubator (3.30%)

A joint venture between Japan-based incubator Rebright Partners and Corfina Group, Batavia Incubator provided Bukalapak with its first round of seed funding.

8. Nugroho Herucahyono (2.78%)

The final co-founder and former CTO of Bukalapak, Herucahyono left the firm in 2020 to become a full-time partner at Init 6, an early-stage VC fund (co-founder Achmad Zaky is its other founding partner).

9. UBS Group AG (2.48%)

Serving as a nominee for an unnamed client, the London branch of this Swiss investment bank was one of the big names in the latest $400 million funding round.

10. Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Investment Pte Ltd (2.40%)

Established by both Naver Corp. and Mirae Asset Daewoo Co., this growth fund reflects the two companies’ increased interest in Southeast Asia. In 2020, this $898 million joint fund poured in more than $89.8 million into the region, investing in start-ups such as Carousell and iPrice.