Indonesia's e-commerce giant

 

William Tanuwijaya is an Indonesian entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder of Tokopedia, an Indonesian e-commerce tech company that is widely used by the country's consumers. In 2019, he received the Medal of Honour (called Satyalancana Wira Karya) from the President of the Republic of Indonesia for his outstanding contribution to technology and economic growth in Indonesia.

Tanuwijaya was born in 1981 in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia, into a middle-class family. He attended Harvard Kennedy School after coming from humble beginnings. His internet entrepreneurial activities stemmed from his work background, which included roles ranging from software and game developer to IT and Business Development Manager in the 2000s. But his big break in internet entrepreneurship came in 2007, when he and a friend, Leontinus Edison, founded Tokopedia, an e-commerce startup that connects buyers and sellers in Indonesia for free. This marketplace startup went on to dominate consumer e-commerce in the vast nation of 270 million people.

Tokopedia received its initial funding from Softbank and Sequoia Capital, making it the first Indonesian marketplace to do so. Previously, these financial firms were critical to the success stories of Facebook and Alibaba. Tanuwijaya's funding of $100 million from them would forever change the Indonesian marketplace scene.

How Tokopedia Began

Tanuwijaya was frequently asked as a student about creating an online store website. On websites, he was tasked with uploading photos and responding to customer chat. This sparked his inspiration to create a free, simple, and dependable online marketplace. Tanuwijaya persevered with Edison even during his most difficult period, when his own father was diagnosed with cancer.

Tanuwijaya was forced to be the family's sole breadwinner because his father could no longer work. He struggled with more than just time. Tokopedia's early development was also hampered by a lack of funding. Despite the obstacles he had to overcome, he would always make time for Tokopedia because he was dedicated to his dream business. He was later introduced to the funders. Eventually, after many presentation setbacks, he was able to secure his first funding for the business in 2009. Before his dream was realised in the first step, he had to go through 11 pitches.

Tokopedia reaped the benefits of its initial funding success. The investment amount increased with each passing year. Tokopedia grew from 4 employees in 2004 to 300 employees in 2014, in less than a half-decade. Sequoia Capital and Softbank funding proved beneficial.

Tokopedia's Business

Tokopedia, in addition to the marketplace, offers a free C2C business platform for customers and sellers. Well-known brands also have official online stores where they conduct B2C business. Credit, utility payments, flight tickets, concert event tickets, credit cards, and many other digital products are available. Financial technology (Fin Tech) products and services were introduced to Tokopedia in 2016 and were sold through the Mitra Tokopedia application. Digital wallets, virtual credit cards, and loan services are among them. They aimed to provide easy and affordable access to these financial products to Indonesians.

A year later, in 2017, Deals Products from the most popular shopping categories, beauty and travel, are introduced. Its goal was to assist users in finding the best deals. Offline businesses can also use Deals Products to expand their online presence.

Tokopedia raised US$1.1 billion in funding in each of the years 2017 and 2018. Tokopedia will have over 7 million merchants and 200 million different products by November 2019 under Tanuwijaya's leadership. BTS and Blackpink, two Korean K-pop stars, have been named official ambassadors for Tokopedia.

To support its marketplace business, an integrated fulfilment and logistics system was also established. Customers can use this service to select their preferred package arrival time, which is also convenient for logistics providers. In 2020, at the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, this service had reached nearly every district in Indonesia.

Read up more about Tokopedia's story - https://medium.com/life-at-tokopedia/the-story-behind-tokopedias-10-year-journey-75eecfa89372