Go-Jek, Indonesia’s first billion-dollar startup, is looking to expand its ride-hailing services to three to four countries in Southeast Asia, escalating its rivalry with Grab and Uber Technologies Inc.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Nadiem Makarim didn’t specify the countries or services that Go-Jek will target, but said in an interview they will be places with a large population and where cash rules, hinting that Go-Jek’s digital payment service will be a key part of its push into new markets.

Singapore-based Grab, aided by massive funding from SoftBank Group Corp. and China’s Didi Chuxing, has pushed aggressively onto Go-Jek’s home turf. Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest on-demand transport company with operations in seven countries, is run by Anthony Tan, Makarim’s former classmate at Harvard Business School. For Go-Jek, this will be its first foray outside its home country.

“We’ve always been on the defensive,” Makarim said in Jakarta, without saying when Go-Jek would expand. “It’s time to bring competition to their doorsteps.”

After Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand have the most number of people in the region, with a combined population of about 270 million. Go-Jek and Grab have rolled out mobile digital-payment services, seeing it as a way to scale their businesses and build a potentially lucrative business by offering financial services to a large number of people with little access to banking.

“I think we’ve cracked the model of a platform that works in an emerging economy where infrastructure isn’t so great,” Makarim said. “There is a high likelihood that we would leverage our full stack. If we come in, we come in with the whole sweep of weapons.”

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Yoolim Lee

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]