Star Indonesian startup Gojek is moving closer to eventual profitability after staunching a tide of ink amid losses on core services like delivery and ride-hailing, according to a new report.
Gojek saw annualized gross transactions cross the $12 billion mark at the end of September, a 10 percent jump over last year, the company’s two co-CEOs, Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi, told Bloomberg News in an interview.
Registered food merchants on Gojek’s platform – which handles everything from ride-hailing to payments – saw an even more dramatic increase, the executives noted. That number hit 900,000 at the end of September, approaching double the 500,000 food vendors on Gojek’s platform at the start of the year.
Grocery and food delivery has become an increasingly important part of Gojek’s business during the pandemic, having grown six-fold in total volume, according to Bloomberg.
“It’s so easy to charge more for short-term profitability, but if customers, drivers and merchants think we are a better platform, then we will be able to monetize,” Soelistyo told the news service. “For us, sustainability is the mantra.”
Gojek is also attracting additional investor interest, in particular from state-owned Telekomunikasi Selular, Indonesia’s biggest wireless carrier. Under the deal, Telkomsel, a unit of parent company Telekomunikasi Indonesia, would buy $150 million in convertible bonds issued by Gojek, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
Gojek’s progress in narrowing its losses and moving closer to profitability comes during what has been a rocky year at times for Indonesia’s largest startup. The company slashed its payroll in June by roughly 9 percent – or more than 400 jobs — as it struggled to adjust amid the changes wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing global downturn.
Gojek celebrated its 10 anniversary on Thursday (Nov. 13), with the business having gotten its start in a Jakarta call center.
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