Achmad Zaky and Nugroho Herucahyono (Xinuc), co-founders of Indonesia’s marketplace unicorn Bukalapak, have set up an early-stage VC fund, called Init 6, to back seed-stage and Series A startups in the country, DealStreetAsia has reported.
As of yet, Init 6 is entirely self-funded.
“It is not a proper fund. We will consider inviting external parties in the future if this proves successful,” said Zaky.
According to some other reports, the move was initiated by Zaky, who stepped down as Bukalapak’s CEO late last year. He currently holds the role of its advisor, tech startup mentor, and Chairman of Achmad Zaky Foundation.
The duo recently announced their first undisclosed investment in the edutech startup Eduka System, with plans to fund a few more in the near future. The two-year-old Eduka develops online test system for schools and students.
“We want to help our younger brothers who have just started building a startup. We feel that our skill and experience can be of help to them,” he said.
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Zaky and Xinuc met during their college days at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), where they founded Bukalapak in their college dorm in 2009.
Bukalapak is currently valued at more than US$2.5 billion, making it Indonesia’s fourth unicorn after gojek, Traveloka, and competitor Tokopedia.
“We have hands-on experience. Xinuc, for example, is good at scaling technology so that it can absorb millions of users at once in a cost-efficient way. Therefore there is no need for trials and errors,” Zaky added.
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Image Credit: Bukalapak
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