What is Gojek? One of the most popular apps in Indonesia is Gojek. If you are not from SEA or Indonesia, you’re probably asking yourself, “What is Gojek?”. At its core, Gojek is an app that is used for food & shopping, payments (fintech), transport & logistics, entertainment and many more Gojek services. Gojek is considered to be Indonesia’s biggest unicorn company that has built an on-demand empire across South East Asia. Share this Image On Your Site
What is Gojek?
One of the most popular apps in Indonesia is Gojek. If you are not from SEA or Indonesia, you’re probably asking yourself, “What is Gojek?”. At its core, Gojek is an app that is used for food & shopping, payments (fintech), transport & logistics, entertainment and many more Gojek services. Gojek is considered to be Indonesia’s biggest unicorn company that has built an on-demand empire across South East Asia.
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In Indonesia, Gojek first launched its function in 2015. Nowadays, based on GTV (Gross transaction value) it is the largest consumer transactional technology group in Southeast Asia. Gojek currently operates in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The potential user base across these countries is 553 million people.
The three pillars on which Gojek operations consists are speed, innovation and its social impact. The focus point of Gojek is to empower the informal sector of South East Asia.
GoBike is the ground transportation service offering from Gojek. These drivers may transport customers, pick up food or deliver packages.
These however are the nuts and bolts of what Gojek is. Gojek however, is more than its services. The company represents a cohesive and disruptive economic force in Indonesia. Imagine the worlds fourth-largest country having a singular platform that encompasses nearly every part of its citizens daily life, this is Gojek.
What are the Gojek and Tokopedia Merger details
Two of the biggest companies in Indonesia, Gojek and e-commerce provider Topkopedia are on the verge of finalizing their terms of merger along with their agreement. Both companies are in amidst of discussing scenarios to list a combined entity in countries such as Jakarta and U.S. The target valuation in the public markets is between $35 billion and $40 billion, one of the people said. They are planning to create an internet powerhouse at the leading edge of businesses from ride-hailing and digital payments to online shopping and delivery.
Gojek a ride-hailing, food delivery company and Tokopedia e-commerce leader in Indonesia are in between a discussion to seal an 18 billion dollar merger. The talks come ahead of a potential dual IPO listing of the combined entity in Indonesia and the USA, while the option of working with a blank-cheque company (SPAC) for the latter is under consideration.
What stock market will Gojek Trade on?
According to the sources both Gojek and Topkopedia are discussing different scenarios and one of them is a combination of both companies before their listing in Indonesia and the U.S. Another scenario that is under consideration is to list Tokopedia first in Jakarta after that merge it with Gojek before their combined listing in U. S. For both companies it is yet to decide which method of listing they should go for. It is yet to decide whether to choose conventional Initial Public Offering or Special Purpose Acquisition to list company in the U.S. For instance, a “blank-check” company established with a pool of money which then can be used to buy more company or companies. Gojek is in talks with Tokopedia about 18 Billion dollars.
Gojek was previously in talks with another ride-hailing rival, Grab Holdings Inc. but these talks became dragged and ultimately came to an end. Many issues led to its failure but even after its success, this deal would likely have faced regulatory opposition since it would combine the two major providers of on-demand rides and delivery services in several South-East Asian markets.
Grab has recently announced that they will be merging with Altimeter to bring Grab to the public markets. The new entity, GRAB will be listed on the Nasdaq in the United States.
What is the Gojek (GoTo) IPOdate?
Gojek is Indonesia’s first unicorn startup revealed that the company has no interest in tapping public markets immediately. Gojek is planning to get a listing with IDX which is an Indonesian exchange. They are considering listing in IDX as it is a primary market and somewhere else as a secondary market. The combination of Gojek with Tokopedia could be revolutionary for the ASEAN tech space. Their merger will create a parallel player along the line of Amazon in the US and Alibaba in China.
According to the company’s spokesman, GoJek which is a ride-hailing company in Indonesia is considering their Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the coming three to four years which is roughly around 2024. The first aim of GoJek is to book their profit even before listing shares at the stock market. Last year in December, Tokopedia stated that they have hired Morgan Stanly and Citigroup as their advisor for Initial Public Offering (IPO). They also confirmed to take SPAC route for their US listing. Gojek also interested in becoming a public company and for that they talked with Grab but talks have fallen without any beneficial results.
What is Gojek’s (GoTo) strategic position
Tokopedia and Gojek merger would be the biggest agreement for the country and can transform e-Commerce business in Indonesia. Since 2018 this potential alliance between two companies has been discussed as the founder and many senior executives have been acquaintances for the past ten years. They will finalize a deal in the first half of 2021. By joining hands with Tokopedia, Gojek can expect to accelerate its access to more public markets. As they have an e-commerce business in their portfolio it will help to broaden its attraction in public market investors.
Technology in Indonesia is growing at an incredible pace. Companies like Gojek and Tokopedia are set to merge and form a SPAC (See GOJEK and Tokopedia SPAC) shortly. Whether the merger lists under a Tokopedia IPO or as Gojek IPO (See when is the Gojek IPO) is yet to be seen but it could result in a company with an initial valuation of nearly twenty billion dollars (before an IPO). These two companies take up much of the tech news from Indonesia, there is, however, a much bigger tech scene to tak...
Technology in Indonesia is growing at an incredible pace. Companies like Gojek and Tokopedia are set to merge and form a SPAC (See GOJEK and Tokopedia SPAC) shortly. Whether the merger lists under a Tokopedia IPO or as Gojek IPO (See when is the Gojek IPO) is yet to be seen but it could result in a company with an initial valuation of nearly twenty billion dollars (before an IPO). These two companies take up much of the tech news from Indonesia, there is, however, a much bigger tech scene to take notice of in Indonesia.
Indonesia now has six privately held companies with valuations of over a billion dollars, more than all other South East Asian countries combined. Not surprisingly these, Indonesian unicorn companies are app-based, Indonesian fintech-focused and are disrupting traditional commerce in the country.
Why should I invest in Indonesia?
I wouldn’t blame you for not being aware of the technology landscape in Indonesia. My view of Indonesia wasn’t always a positive one. Nothing good ever happens in Indonesia if you watch or read Western media. If there is positive press, it’s about Bali (See should I visit Bali?), the reverberations from the impact of “Eat, Pray, Love”. Yes, Bali is special, overcrowded but special. Bali is where I first saw the signs of the emerging tech economy in Indonesia. I hardly knew an “Ojek from a Gojek” (As they say) or why the local communities in Bali physically banned drivers from these apps from entering their cities. This division between tech and community made me curious. That curiosity opened my eyes to the incredible emergence of tech in Indonesia.
From those humble beginnings, writing about adding credit to the Gojek app, my curiosity flourished. I travelled from Jakarta to Surabaya (See is Surabaya worth visiting) and from Yogyakarta (See things to do in Yogyakarta) to Kalimantan (See is Borneo safe) across the archipelago seeking to understand what was happening with technology in this country. What I found and what I continue to uncover has become my passion.
Business in Indonesia
To begin to understand technology companies in Indonesia it is important to understand both the scale and the underlying economics of the country.
The archipelago of Indonesia spans the width of the United States. The country is vast in both size, diversity and economies. Bali, for example, is roughly the size of Connecticut and the entirety of the United Kingdom fits snugly inside Borneo (Kalimantan in Indonesia). If Bali is your only view of Indonesia, you’re missing the bigger picture.
United Kingdom compared to size of Borneo (Kalimantan)
When considering the economic potential of Indonesian tech companies it’s important to consider that only 68% of the population is online as of 2020. Of the online population, nearly all are mobile device based. It is projected that by 2025 over ninety per cent of the population will be online.
Internet penetration is one thing but the scale of the population is another. The current population of Indonesia is roughly 270 million people and is the worlds fourth-largest population. When I first began my journey into learning about the Gojek IPO my naiveness to the size of the Indonesian population floored me.
Indonesia is a poor country, right?
That is a complicated answer. The truth is, there are extremes on both ends of the spectrum. Getting to know people on the ground across the country I have found two things, never romanticize poverty but also never forget to put living conditions into context. Upward mobility is happening, and it is incredibly evident from walking the streets, things are changing. As of mid-2020, about 115 million people were aspiring to move into the middle class in Indonesia. That’s nearly half the population coming into the middle class over the next few years.
In my travel writing days, I wrote about visiting Surabaya in northeastern Java, “It feels as if this place has gone through a tremendous economic collapse. A first glance the city is full of grand buildings like any major city during the mid-nineties. Then it hits you, nothing has changed since the late nineties. Something happened here”. What I didn’t know at the time was that the country had gone through a major financial collapse along with the rest of South-East Asia. We call it now, the Asian Financial Crisis and over a year the Indonesian currency fell 83% against the US dollar. Not everything is as it seems in Indonesia.
Who are Indonesia’s Unicorns? Hint: Gojek is the biggest.
A unicorn is a mythical creature and a symbol of rarity according to my Google search. For companies like Gojek or Tokopedia, much the same definition applies. A unicorn company is a privately held company that has a valuation of over 1 billion USD. Several companies in Indonesia have managed to become unicorns within a population where the majority of people currently fall behind the poverty line. Imagine the future ahead as the middle class begins to bulge over the next few years. Imagine when Tokopedia and Gojek merge to form a SPAC or Gojek IPO!
Indonesia, a regional economic powerhouse with a global market at its fingertips.
In mining, for example, Indonesia holds the largest world reserves of nickel. If you’re in the lithium-ion battery business-like, like say, Tesla, Indonesia is of paramount interest to you. Nickel being a commodity has a relative price across the world however, in Indonesia has a collapsed currency, the labor cost is considerably lower. The comparison of labor cost to extract nickel to Australia, the second largest reserves is significant. It’s no wonder that Tesla has invested in mines in Indonesia and BHP Billiton, a mining company from Australia are present in the market. On a side note on mining, the Omnibus bill recently enacted allows for 67% foreign ownership of contract mining services.
Geographically Indonesia is in a sweet spot of current geopolitics. The country plays a Switzerland type of role between many competing nations. With China flexing its muscles in the South China Sea, Indonesia provides a buffer for Australia. China courts Indonesia, Australia and the United States do the same. If Indonesia is loyal to anyone, however, it is it South-East Asian partners involved in ASEAN.
Indonesia as a Halal exporter
Perhaps though, there is something much bigger than all of this that Indonesia is likely to become. I believe Indonesia is set to become a net exporter to the halal market through Tokopedia and most importantly technology. Indonesia’s population is 87% Muslim or roughly 225 million people. Indonesians are 99% Sunni which accounts for 90% of the Muslims worldwide. Indonesia, through its unicorns, is set to become an exporter of halal technology. This halal technology market is a largely untapped 1.8 Billion person technology market. The more I watch Indonesia the more it becomes apparent that Indonesia is set to become a peer to places like the UAE. If you’ve been paying attention you would have noted that President Joko Widodo of Indonesia recently had a street in Abu Dhabi named after him. Something is happening here and I can’t wait to find out about it.
Countries present in: Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam
Motto: There is Always a Way
I’ve written extensively about Gojek and the upcoming Gojek IPO. I fell in love with this company while using their services across Indonesia. Gojek has over twenty services they offer through their super app. WeChat in China and Grab out of Singapore are probably the most conceptually similar apps. Gojek’ services encompass transport, payments, food and shopping, entertainment and business services. There is no equivalent app in the West that I am aware of that has a similar market penetration as Gojek.
While Gojek does not have a specific halal component they could gain exposure to through a merger with Tokopedia and a Gojek IPO.
Traveloka company overview
Traveloka
Founded: 2012
Current Valuation: 2.1 Billion USD
Monthly active users: 40 million
Countries present in: Across SEA and Australia
Traveloka spans across the travel and lifestyle spectrum. They offer a wide range of accommodations and transportation options. Like many of the Unicorn apps in Indonesia, Traveloka has a number of services that are outside of their core offerings. The company offers financing, payment and insurance solutions for “Underbanked” Indonesians. With roughly 20% of the population with a bank account they’re are large opportunities for Indonesias unicorn companies to penetrate this market.
With over 60 million downloads it is the largest travel based app in South East Asia (SEA). The company has offices in Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and the Philippines. In addition to seven countries in South East Asia (SEA), Traveloka also has exposure in Australia.
Tokopedia is an Indonesian focused online shopping platform. Similar to “Fulfilled by Amazon” the company offers warehouse hosting of products and distribution services. At its heart the company is focused on fintech, bringing the ability to process transactions across Indonesia.
If great interest to this blog is Tokopedia Salam which provides a number of services aimed specifically to the Muslim market. The app provides resources for daily prayers, donations, Muslim fashion and halal offerings.
Bukalapak company overview
Bukalapak
Founded: 2010
Current Valuation: 2.9 Billion USD
Monthly active users:
Countries present in:
To understand Bukalapak you need to have a good grasp of day to day life in the country. The countries retail revolves around small kiosks that litter the streets. If you can imagine a gas/petrol station without a physical building but rather a wooden dwelling that sells fuel in empty Absolute bottles (Why absolute bottles?) and has a variety of convenience items on offer, this is retail for the majority of Indonesia. This app connects these kiosks and assists them with transactions and inventory ordering.
Like many of the other Unicorn apps, Bukalapak has waded into a number of fintech products. The company currently offers mutual funds and gold trading and has plans for a mobile wallet. You can even pay your police related fines with the app!
JD Indonesia company overview
JD Indonesia
Founded: 2015
Current Valuation: 1.1 Billion USD
Monthly active users: 4 Million
JD.ID is another of the online marketplaces in Indonesia. Unlike Tokopedia, JD monthly active users (MAU) continue to fall. Given the trajectory we would imagine that JD will fall off the of Unicorn list in the near future.
OVO company overview
OVO
Founded: 2017
Current Valuation: 3.1 Billion USD
Monthly active users:
Countries present in: Indonesia
Who are their major investors in Indonesia’s Unicorns
Gojek
Date
Investors
Amount
Round
Oct 2015
Sequoia Capital, DST Global, NSI Ventures
N/A
SERIES B
Aug 2016
KKR, Warburg Pincus, Farallon Capital Management Sequoia Capital DST Global Rakuten Ventures Rakuten NSI Ventures Capital Group Northstar Group Formation Group
$550m Valuation: $1.8b
SERIES D
Aug 2017
K3 ventures
N/A
SERIES E
Jan 2018
Google Tencent BlackRock Temasek JD.com Meituan Dianping Astra International PT Global Digital Niaga Allianz X
$1.5b Valuation: $5.0b
SERIES E
Oct 2018
Google Tencent JD.com
$920m Valuation: $9.5b
SERIES F
Mar 2019
Astra International
$100m Valuation: $10.0b
SERIES F
Jul 2019
Mitsubishi Motors Mitsubishi Corporation Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
N/A
SERIES F
Jun 2020
PayPal Facebook
N/A
SERIES F
Nov 2020
Telkomsel
Traveloka
DATE
INVESTORS
AMOUNT
ROUND
Nov 2012
East Ventures
N/A
SEED
Aug 2013
Global Founders Capital
N/A
SERIES A
Jan 2017
Sequoia Capital East Ventures Hillhouse Capital JD.com
$150m
LATE VC
Jul 2017
Expedia Group
$350m Valuation: $2.0b
LATE VC
Apr 2019
GIC
$420m
LATE VC
Jul 2020
East Ventures
$250m Valuation: $2.0b
LATE VC
Tokopedia
DATE
INVESTORS
AMOUNT
ROUND
Mar 2010
East Ventures
N/A
SERIES A
Apr 2011
CyberAgent Ventures
$700k
SERIES B
Apr 2012
Beenos
N/A
SERIES C
Jun 2013
East Ventures CyberAgent Ventures SoftBank
N/A
SERIES D
Oct 2014
Sequoia Capital SoftBank
$100m
SERIES E
Apr 2016
Sequoia Capital SoftBank
$147m
SERIES E
Oct 2017
Alibaba
$1.1b
SERIES F
Dec 2018*
Alibaba SoftBank
$1.1b Valuation: $7.0b
SERIES G
Oct 2020
Google Temasek
$350m Valuation: $7.5b
GROWTH EQUITY
Bukalapak
DATE
INVESTORS
AMOUNT
ROUND
Jul 2011
Batavia Incubator
N/A
SEED
Sep 2012
Strive
N/A
SEED
Feb 2014
500 Startups Emtek Aucfan Strive
N/A
SERIES A
Feb 2015
500 Startups Emtek
N/A
SERIES B
Jan 2019*
Digital Garage AGAETIS Pavilion Capital Partners LINE Ventures SMDV
Gojek IPO and the SPAC in Jakarta What you need to know: Firstly let me say this; before I got into fintech in Indonesia I had no idea what a SPAC was. I’m still a bit confused about the whole thing but according to Investopedia: A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is formed to raise money through an initial public offering to buy another company. Have a look over the Investopedia site for a broader definition as its outside of my scope at the time being. Grab app, a competitor to Gojek...
What you need to know:
Firstly let me say this; before I got into fintech in Indonesia I had no idea what a SPAC was. I’m still a bit confused about the whole thing but according to Investopedia: A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is formed to raise money through an initial public offering to buy another company. Have a look over the Investopedia site for a broader definition as its outside of my scope at the time being.
Grab app, a competitor to Gojek announced that the company will be go public via a SPAC. Grab announced on April 13th, 2021 that it intends to go public in the U.S. in partnership with Altimeter Growth Corp. (Nasdaq: “AGC”) in what is expected to be the largest-ever U.S. equity offering by a Southeast Asian company. The combined company expects its securities will be traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “GRAB” in the coming months. A successful Grab SPAC IPO could should be seen as a positive sign for a Gojek IPO.
If you are new to Indonesian investing we have a page dedicated to helping you learn about Gojek.
Why it matters:
What should be seen as a clear indication that a merger between Tokopedia and Gojek is going ahead, the IDX has announced they will allow SPAC on the exchange. This is according to The Star out of Malaysia and the Jakarta Post although nothing has been listed on the IDX site. According to these sites, the new rule allowing for SPAC on the Indonesia Stock Exchange will come into effect in July.
Bottom line, if the stock market (bourse) does allow for this change it may mean that we are headed for a July IPO of the to be named Gojek/Tokopedia merger. Time will tell and we will be keeping ear out for official updates from IDX development director Hasan Fawzi.
Further reading:
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/03/09/indonesia-stock-exchange-to-allow-spacshttps://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/03/07/idx-to-allow-spacs-hopes-indonesian-unicorns-will-go-public-locally.html
Its no secret, I’m a fan of GoJek in Indonesia. I’ve been impatiently waiting to see when the Gojek IPO will occur for years. In 2018 I left my job for an indefinite hiatus and I’m still on it. On my journey, I came across GoJek and it became a lifesaver of sorts. Whisking down dusty backroads on the back of a scooter in a country whose language I couldn’t speak was magical. Getting western food delivered to my hotel, heaven. That just the tip of the iceberg of services offered on GoJek. Even go...
Its no secret, I’m a fan of GoJek in Indonesia. I’ve been impatiently waiting to see when the Gojek IPO will occur for years. In 2018 I left my job for an indefinite hiatus and I’m still on it. On my journey, I came across GoJek and it became a lifesaver of sorts. Whisking down dusty backroads on the back of a scooter in a country whose language I couldn’t speak was magical. Getting western food delivered to my hotel, heaven. That just the tip of the iceberg of services offered on GoJek. Even going through the drama of trying to change my phone number with GoJek didn’t detour me from my fascination with the company.
What is Gojek? GoJek is unique the ride haling and SuperApp space in Indonesia. Unlike its main competitor Grab, GoJek does not accept foreign credit cards. At first glance, this is rather annoying and especially for a foreign national. But when you dig deeper you find that Indonesia First is a philosophy that runs deep in the country. Why is this important? GoJek is pricing its fairs and services at local prices. While Grab is more convenient, those fairs and services are going to cost more.
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Investing in SE Asia and a GoJek IPO
From an investment standpoint in GoJek, why does this matter? Locals are paying local pricing and that money is recirculating in the Indonesian economy. Unlike Grab which is a Singapore bases company and when you buy a service through them, those dollars are going out the window to the island nation.
Being the worlds largest archipelago, Indonesia is a land of many, many cultures and ethnicities. Even the idea of keeping the money local in Indonesia isn’t good enough for some locals, banning these services from their neighbourhoods. This concept of Indonesia first, travels down to individual neighbourhoods. The idea of sending money from your neighbourhood in Bali to Java where GoJek is based is a no, no. The same can be said for Kalimantan where for much of the island there is no ride-hailing super apps.
Going further you find this trend of Indonesia first is at the core of its principles. Try to invest in property in Indonesia, that will be a challenge and broadly speaking is not a reality for foreigners. Thinking of starting a business in Indonesia, be prepared to hand over a percentage of ownership (there are varying degrees which this is the case).
Tokopedia and Gojek merger
Tokopedia, which GoJek is rumoured to be in merger conversations has the same only allows Indonesians to tell on their app. Can I sell on Tokopedia as a foreigner? Not a chance any time soon. Keep the money local.
So what changes if Tokopedia and Gojek merge. Think amazon.com on steroids merging with Uber. That’s an understatement, imagine if Uber and Fedex were one company. Then imagine amazon.com was also merged with Square. Every local business would then have the ability to sell to customers across Indonesia and have that delivered through an extensive delivery network primarily built on a network of independently owned scooters. The velocity at which money will be moving throughout Indonesia is about to rapidly increase.
Plus, GoJek is already expanding to Thailand and Vietnam and that is money coming into Indonesia.
So why care, why would you want to invest in Indonesia. I’ll keep it simple, Indonesia is the worlds fourth-largest population, behind the United States did you know that? They have the largest economy in SE Asia. 24% of the population is under 14, and nearly 82% under 54.
GoJek IPO 2021…2022 who knows!
So imagine when a Gojek/Tokopedia IPO comes out and we can buy that stock on the US market. I wish I had a crystal ball to know when the GoJek IPO date and what the GoJek price will be.
Suddenly those companies owners and investors are going to become incredibly rich. Indonesia will have its technology unicorn. Investing in Indonesia is nearly impossible for the average person but with the US trades IPO, I’m incredibly excited.
GoBike is the ground transportation service offering from Gojek. These drivers may transport customers, pick up food or deliver packages.
These however are the nuts and bolts of what Gojek is. Gojek however, is more than its services. The company represents a cohesive and disruptive economic force in Indonesia. Imagine the worlds fourth-largest country having a singular platform that encompasses nearly every part of its citizens daily life, this is Gojek.
GoBike is the ground transportation service offering from Gojek. These drivers may transport customers, pick up food or deliver packages.
These however are the nuts and bolts of what Gojek is. Gojek however, is more than its services. The company represents a cohesive and disruptive economic force in Indonesia. Imagine the worlds fourth-largest country having a singular platform that encompasses nearly every part of its citizens daily life, this is Gojek.
