Starting from Only Rp 80 Thousand, Now Bukalapak Makes History as the First Unicorn to List Shares on the IDX

Kapanlagi.com - At the age of only 10 years, Bukalapak has once again made a new breakthrough in the business world. This Unicorn startup is known to have conducted an initial public offering (IPO). For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the term, IPO refers to a company that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the first time. In short, the company's shares, which were originally private, can now be purchased by the general public, anyone.

This news has been widely known and announced directly by Bukalapak's Chief Executive Officer, Rachmat Kaimuddin. He described Bukalapak's IPO as a milestone in the technology industry and capital market in Indonesia.

"For the first time, a startup unicorn company will list its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange," Rachmat said.

Through this IPO, Bukalapak will continue to be committed to creating a fair technology-based economy for all Indonesian people. In addition, this startup with 2000 employees also hopes that the public can participate in owning, monitoring, and maintaining Bukalapak.

Bukalapak will officially be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) today, Friday (6/8) as the 28th company to list its shares this year. Bukalapak will be traded under the code 'BUKA'. It should be known that this is a new historical note, where unicorn startups list their shares on the IDX.

"We are very grateful that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process went well according to plan. Today, in a very good month for the Indonesian nation, Bukalapak is officially listed on the IDX," said Rachmat in an official statement received on Friday (6/8).

1. IPO Results of Rp 21.9 Trillion!

Bukalapak / Photo Credit: Special

After announcing the IPO, Bukalapak held an initial offering period (bookbuilding), both through roadshows (July 9-19, 2021) and general offerings (July 27-30, 2021). Bukalapak offered 25,765,504,800 shares at an offering price of Rp 850 per share. This amount is in accordance with the provisions of the initial public offering of shares.

The funds raised from the IPO amounted to approximately Rp 21.9 trillion. The funds will be used for working capital for Bukalapak and its subsidiaries to invest in various products and services to improve performance, profitability, and sustainability.

Interestingly, based on the above calculations, Bukalapak once again made a new record. Yes, the Rp 21.9 trillion IPO by Bukalapak is the largest in the history of the stock exchange in Indonesia.

So, where will the funds be allocated? All funds from the IPO, after deducting issuance costs, will be used to finance working capital with the following breakdown: 66 percent will be allocated to Bukalapak and 34 percent will be allocated to the working capital needs of Bukalapak's subsidiary entities.

2. Positively Welcomed by the IDX

Although the IPO step was taken amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the interest in Bukalapak shares remains high. This reflects the trust of investors and the public in Bukalapak as a company focused on empowering MSMEs, known as the main drivers of the Indonesian economy.

Meanwhile, the IDX itself also welcomes the IPO step taken by Bukalapak. The IDX also supports companies with various types of businesses, business sectors, and company scales, both large, medium, and small, to list their shares on the IDX. This is to enable issuers to grow in the Indonesian capital market.

"With the entry of PT Bukalapak.com Tbk, it is hoped that it will attract the interest of other companies to enter and enliven the Indonesian capital market," said I Gede Nyoman Yetna, Director of Corporate Assessment at the IDX, on Wednesday (4/8).

On a separate occasion, the President Director of the IDX, Inarno Djajadi, also expressed a similar statement, "We hope that Bukalapak's step will be followed by other technology companies to further increase the capitalization of the Indonesian capital market," said Inarno, as quoted from Liputan6.com.

3. Bukalapak's Journey Begins with Rp 80 Thousand Capital

Bukalapak / Credit Photo: Special

To get to this point, Bukalapak has a quite long and full of ups and downs story. Since its establishment with only Rp 80 thousand in capital, Bukalapak aims to help traditional stalls that struggle to adapt in the internet era.

Initially, they used the Rp 80 thousand capital to order a website address that is still used by Bukalapak until now. As time goes by, in 2017, Bukalapak successfully became a unicorn startup with a valuation of USD 1 billion or around Rp 14 trillion.

In the same year, Bukalapak launched Mitra Bukalapak to help these traditional stalls compete with modern stores. Through Mitra Bukalapak, stalls can offer additional online services, such as bill payments and mobile top-ups.

Mitra Bukalapak also connects stalls with distributors of daily necessities, streamlining distribution channels, reducing the cost of goods, and increasing profit margins for small businesses. The revenue growth of Mitra Bukalapak partners from 2018 to 2020 grew by more than 1,200 percent.

"By the end of 2020, (Bukalapak) had 6.5 million online merchants and 7 million offline stalls (Mitra Bukalapak). The total MSMEs under the Bukalapak ecosystem reached 13.5 million by the end of 2020. So it can be said that we are not just an e-commerce platform, but already an all-commerce platform," said Rachmat, on Friday (2/7/2021).

Furthermore, Rachmat stated that Bukalapak aims to elevate MSMEs, no longer burning money. Furthermore, the data shows that e-commerce transactions in Indonesia are not yet significant compared to retail transactions. According to Rachmat, e-commerce transactions in Indonesia are still around 5 to 10 percent, while 95 percent of transactions still occur offline with 66 to 75 percent occurring in traditional shops.

For Rachmat, Bukalapak feels that an online marketplace is not enough to fulfill all the needs of the community. Therefore, in 2016 or 2017, Bukalapak made a business change by introducing Mitra Bukalapak.

"We want these traditional shops to upgrade and become modern. Because these shops still have problems such as being individual businesses and not being touched by technology. For that reason, we created an application and offered a solution to make these shops modern," he concluded.

(kpl/gtr)