Kusumo Martanto and his e-commerce company Blibli is riding the rising wave of online retail in Indonesia. With the pandemic accelerating the transformation of the local consumer ecosystem, Blibli is focused not just on making buyers’ lives easier but also growing the small businesses selling on its platform.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the globe, the ten-year-old company also engaged in brick-and-mortar business through Bliblimart. It also collaborates with several physical grocery stores, including Alfamart, South Korea’s LotteMart and Supra Boga Lestari chain stores—which it recently acquired shares in.

Prior to joining Blibli’s holding company GDP Venture, Martanto spent more than 15 years working in the United States. There he worked for Global Fortune Top 100 companies like Honeywell Aerospace, i2 Technologies and Intel.

He finished his degree in Industrial Engineering at the Iowa State University and briefly attended the Georgia Institute of Technology to pursue a Master’s in the same field. Now Martanto also sits on the board of other Indonesian enterprises like IT companies Avniro Group and Tiket.com