Gojek, a ride-hailing and payments giant and Tokopedia, an e-commerce firm, has recently announced to merge to create GoTo Group, a tech giant, according to the media. Gojek and Tokopedia and Indonesia’s most successful startups. This tech giant would be the largest firm in the country. The firms together generated transactions worth $22 billion in 2020.
The GoTo Group will be forming an Indonesian tech giant that combines e-commerce and financial services with on-demand offerings like ride-sharing. The new tech giant is planning to tap into the vast potential of Southeast Asia’s largest economy along with the fast-growing middle class, young and tech-savvy population. The statement released by the companies did not disclose the expected value of the new firm but added that the combined past valuation was $18 billion based on historical fundraising data.
Gojek’s Andre Soelistyo will lead GoTo Group as the chief executive officer and Tokopedia’s Patrick Cao as the president. Drivers of Gojek will deliver more Tokopedia packages. Merchant partners of all sizes will be benefitted from the strengthened business model, and the firm will also use a combined scale to increase financial inclusion in an emerging market with untapped potential. The new entity will help expand its services to reach underserved areas where about 140 million people have little or no access to the country’s financial services.
Gojek was first established as a motorcycle ride-hailing service in 2010 and is now a multi-service and digital payment platform. It has further developed to offer deliveries, takeaway food and financial services. It has expanded into Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. In comparison, Tokopedia, during its early stage, provided an online bridge between merchants and customers. It developed into fintech, payments, logistics and retail businesses.