Skip to content
Living

Indonesia’s Traveloka Co-Founder Resigns

By Sarah ChenIndonesia
1 min read
tourist
tourist
In this article (4)

Indonesian unicorn startup Traveloka announced the resignation of its co-founder, Derianto Kusuma, from his position as chief technology officer on Tuesday. Derianto was one of three persons involved in the establishment in February 2012 of the online ticketing and hotel booking service, which has since become one of the leading tech companies in Southeast Asia.

“Deri has played an unparalleled role in Traveloka’s development and success by building, scaling, and making not only sustainable technology capability and systems but also a sustainable organization,” said Ferry Unardi, chief executive and co-founder of Traveloka.

Following his exit from the company, Derianto took to online publishing platform Medium to write about his journey. In his post, he wrote about what drove him to start the company and the actual implementation of different business models throughout the nearly seven years since Traveloka was founded.

He also touched on why he decided it was best for him to leave.

“A few years ago, the battle started to show trends towards being more commercially than innovation-driven, predatory than productive, perception-oriented than fundamentals-oriented,” Derianto wrote.

With these new trends, Derianto felt that his duty – building the technological foundation – had been fulfilled.

“Two years ago, I ensured Traveloka had strong technological, organizational foundations built for scale and sustainability, and put in place a solid senior team that can take them forward,” Derianto wrote.

Though Derianto wrote that he would be spending more time with family and friends after resigning, he said he “yearns” to develop a new venture in a noncompeting category, a technology that would “fundamentally transform society.”

“I’m glad that we have finally reached this milestone where I believe it’s a win-win for everyone involved,” Derianto wrote.

Questions & Answers

Q.

What is the primary reason Derianto Kusuma gave for his resignation from Traveloka?

A.

Derianto felt the company's direction shifted from innovation-driven to commercially focused, becoming more predatory and perception-oriented. He believed his role in building the technological foundation was complete under these new trends.

Q.

What kind of company is Traveloka and when was it established?

A.

Traveloka is an Indonesian unicorn startup that offers online ticketing and hotel booking services. It was established in February 2012 and has become a leading tech company in Southeast Asia.

Q.

What does Derianto Kusuma plan to do after leaving Traveloka?

A.

He intends to spend more time with family and friends, but also yearns to develop a new venture. This will be in a non-competing category, focusing on technology to fundamentally transform society.

Reader pulse

Derianto Kusuma's reason for leaving Traveloka is:

20,414 votes so far

Weekly Briefing

Asia's retail intelligence, in your inbox

Monday, Wednesday and a Friday Weekly Wrap: the retail stories, numbers and moves that mattered across Asia. Nothing else, and you can unsubscribe in one click.

  • Top industry moves and market shifts
  • Weekly data-driven analysis from across Asia
  • Monday, Wednesday and the Friday Weekly Wrap

Read by retail operators, investors and brand teams across Asia.

Protected by a quick human check. No spam, ever. Unsubscribe in one click.

SecureGDPR ready