Go-Jek Enters Thailand As It Expands In Southeast Asia

Go-Jek, the Indonesian ride-hailing company that is a rival to Grab, has launched services in Thailand, reported Reuters.

According to a report in Reuters, citing Go-Jek Founder and Chief Executive Nadiem Makarim, the company is working to enter the Philippines market as well. Go-Jek launched in Thailand under the business name GET.

The company will also boost its presence in the Philippines via the acquisition of FinTech company Coins.ph, which has five million users, the executive told Reuters. Go-Jek acquired Coins.ph to get access to its e-wallet and remittance services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

“We are present there; we just don’t have our mobility services launched as of yet,” Makarim told reporters. “I can’t give you a firm (start) date, but knowing Go-Jek, it’s usually pretty fast.”

Back in January, Go-Jek Co-founder Kewin Aluwi said the company was looking at other Southeast Asian areas in which to expand the business, including Malaysia. Makarim declined to comment on expansion into Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar on Wednesday (Feb. 27), noted the report.

Go-Jek recently raised billions of dollars, enabling it to expand its market and aggressively pursue market share in Southeast Asia, where the region’s 640 million consumers are increasingly embracing smartphones to do everything from shop to pay to get around.

Reuters noted that earlier in February, sources said Go-Jek has a value of as much as $10 billion, on the heels of raising $1 billion in a fundraising round that included Tencent, JD.com and Google. Other investors participating in the Series F fundraising round included Mitsubishi Corp. and Provident Capital. Funding will be used to take on rival Grab in everything from food delivery to digital payments. In 2018, Go-Jek raised more than $3 billion.