Go-Jek Raises $1.5B From Investors, Including BlackRock, Google

Go-Jek, the delivery and ride-hailing company located in Indonesia, has raised $1.5 billion in venture capital funding.

According to news from Reuters, Go-Jek raised $1.5 billion from investors that included BlackRock and Google. The funding total was higher than the $1.2 billion the company was hoping to raise. With the investment money, Reuters noted Go-Jek is now valued at roughly $5 billion and will be able to compete better in Southeast Asia, which is characterized by a highly competitive market where incentives are given to both drivers and customers to gain market share and build loyalty.

Both Grab and Uber Technologies are in Southeast Asia and have vowed to invest more money in the region. Southeast Asia is home to 640 million people, which is why the ride-hailing companies are acting so aggressively in the area. Sources told Reuters that BlackRock and Singapore’s Temasek are investing roughly $100 million each in the latest round of funding.

“Go-Jek is far beyond a ride-hailing app; it’s a digital platform that dominates consumers’ daily lives, including transportation, food delivery, logistics and payment, etc,” said Xiaofeng Wang, a senior analyst at consultancy Forrester, in an interview with Reuters. “That’s also the key value that its key investors like Google and Tencent see. They know well about the power of the digital ecosystem, and Go-Jek has built it in Indonesia, like Google in the U.S. and WeChat in China.”

Meanwhile, Go-Jek told Reuters that some of the $1.5 billion investment was part of a fundraising round that started in 2017. It declined to say how much was raised and didn’t name the investors. The funding will be used to develop technology for micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses located in Indonesia.

Earlier this month, Astra International, the Indonesian conglomerate, announced it would invest $150 million in Go-Jek, noted the report.