Indonesian Unicorn Bukalapak Cuts Jobs in Profitability Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Online market place PT Bukalapak.com is cutting about 10% of its around 2,500 employees, bucking a trend among Indonesian unicorns that have been stepping up hiring this year.

Chief Strategy Officer Teddy Oetomo said in a statement Tuesday that the company would be placing greater emphasis on profitability. It’s targeting break-even or its first profit within five years.

“We have sufficient capital to achieve positive EBITDA if all the initiatives that we have put in place are going as planned,” Oetomo said. “The reason we are targeting for sustainability is because we don’t want to continue raising funds and would like to minimize dilution to existing shareholders.”

Bukalapak was valued at $1 billion in November 2017 by CB Insights.

Bukalapak is majority Indonesian-owned and was hoping to remain so, Oetomo said. The company’s backers include broadcaster PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi. It also counts Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte and China’s Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, among its investors.

To contact the reporter on this story: Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham at tabraham4@bloomberg.net, Colum Murphy, Edwin Chan

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