Indonesian Super App Gojek Closes $150M Funding Deal With NSP Telkomsel

Indonesian super app Gojek is closing a $150 million funding deal with Indonesian network service provider (NSP) Telkomsel, a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia and Singtel.

“The collaboration between Telkomsel and Gojek is built on a common belief that local companies can be the market leaders in Indonesia,” Setyanto Hantoro, president director, Telkomsel, said in a statement on Tuesday (Nov. 17).

He added that by partnering with Gojek, Telkomsel will be able to expand its digital telco position and “build an inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem” and advance digital technology “to all levels of Indonesian society.”

Millions of users across Southeast Asia use the Gojek platform for payments, food delivery, transportation and logistics. Indonesia’s first decacorn, Gojek said it has thousands of merchants on its platform and millions of drivers.

With 170 million-plus subscribers, Telkomsel is Indonesia’s biggest mobile phone network, and provides a digital platform for connectivity along with other digital services. The Gojek partnership will help the company forge ahead with its “transformation strategy” and solidify human resources in the digital space.

Gojek and Telkomsel have worked together for more than two years and plan to leverage their combined scale to reach millions of people across Indonesia.

The two companies are also planning to work together to advance the country’s digital lifestyle sector and advertising technology solutions for all sellers. They are also collaborating to develop professional training programs to expand the country’s pool of tech talent.

Gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo said that together, the two local firms can “help Indonesia become a true digital powerhouse in Southeast Asia.” The partnership will also help deliver the digital economy “to millions more consumers.”

“In a fast-growing, mobile-first market, collaborations like this one are crucial for supercharging the digital economy as great things can only be achieved if the region’s leading technology companies pool their resources and work together to accelerate development,” Soelistyo said.

In separate news, hoping for a merger deal between Gojek and Grab, SoftBank Founder Masayoshi Son has tried to facilitate talks that would finalize the transaction. An undetermined main issue is how much of Gojek’s operations will be acquired by Grab — all operations or just the unit in Indonesia.

Last month, Gojek upped its penetration of the grocery delivery space to better meet accelerated demand amid the pandemic and move the company closer to profitability. The surge in delivery demand helped the company post $12 billion in annualized gross transactions, 10 percent more than 2019.

Talks between the two companies started at the end of October. Gojek’s Series F funding round included Facebook, Google, PayPal and Tencent, Tech in Asia reported. Gojek rival Grab was in talks with Alibaba about a potential $3 billion investment.