Indonesia’s Gojek maintains swift expansion drive
Indonesia’s ride-hailing-start-up Gojek, which since its launch in 2010 has grown into a diversified e-commerce unicorn, wants to expand its business further beyond its home base this year, co-CEO Kevin Aluwi told CNBC.
“One of our primary focuses for 2021 is really to expand our footprint outside of Indonesia,” Aluwi said.
“Over the last few years, we’ve definitely invested relatively smaller amounts in our markets outside of Indonesia. But, we think this is the year where we really want to spread our wings and be a regional and global business,” Aluwi told the news organization.
Presently, apart from Indonesia, Gojek is already operating in five other Southeast Asian markets, namely in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia, and has also branched out to India, where much of its software development is being done.
Aside ride-hailing, Gojek offers other services including food delivery, digital payments and logistics. It is now present in more than 200 cities across Southeast Asia, but Indonesia remains its top market.
Gojek’s expansion strategy will depend on the pace of recovery in the respective countries from the coronavirus pandemic, Aluwi said.
Online shopping and delivery is booming during pandemic
However, the company also seeks to monetize on the fact that many people in the region turned to online shopping and delivery instead of making trips to restaurants or supermarkets to minimise exposure to the coronavirus. Even with vaccine programs being rolled out around the world, some experts have said the shifts in consumer behaviour are here to stay after the pandemic is brought under control.
Further, Gojek is reportedly in talks with Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia to enter a $18-billion merger agreement ahead of a potential stock listing, according to Reuters. The deal would transform Gojek into a competitor of regional peers including Singapore’s Grab and various e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada.
Gojek is currently valued at $10 billion. Prominent investors include Google, Tencent and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek.
Indonesia’s ride-hailing-start-up Gojek, which since its launch in 2010 has grown into a diversified e-commerce unicorn, wants to expand its business further beyond its home base this year, co-CEO Kevin Aluwi told CNBC. “One of our primary focuses for 2021 is really to expand our footprint outside of Indonesia,” Aluwi said. “Over the last few years, we’ve definitely invested relatively smaller amounts in our markets outside of Indonesia. But, we think this is the year where we really want to spread our wings and be a regional and global business,” Aluwi told the news organization. Presently, apart from Indonesia, Gojek...
Indonesia’s ride-hailing-start-up Gojek, which since its launch in 2010 has grown into a diversified e-commerce unicorn, wants to expand its business further beyond its home base this year, co-CEO Kevin Aluwi told CNBC.
“One of our primary focuses for 2021 is really to expand our footprint outside of Indonesia,” Aluwi said.
“Over the last few years, we’ve definitely invested relatively smaller amounts in our markets outside of Indonesia. But, we think this is the year where we really want to spread our wings and be a regional and global business,” Aluwi told the news organization.
Presently, apart from Indonesia, Gojek is already operating in five other Southeast Asian markets, namely in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia, and has also branched out to India, where much of its software development is being done.
Aside ride-hailing, Gojek offers other services including food delivery, digital payments and logistics. It is now present in more than 200 cities across Southeast Asia, but Indonesia remains its top market.
Gojek’s expansion strategy will depend on the pace of recovery in the respective countries from the coronavirus pandemic, Aluwi said.
Online shopping and delivery is booming during pandemic
However, the company also seeks to monetize on the fact that many people in the region turned to online shopping and delivery instead of making trips to restaurants or supermarkets to minimise exposure to the coronavirus. Even with vaccine programs being rolled out around the world, some experts have said the shifts in consumer behaviour are here to stay after the pandemic is brought under control.
Further, Gojek is reportedly in talks with Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia to enter a $18-billion merger agreement ahead of a potential stock listing, according to Reuters. The deal would transform Gojek into a competitor of regional peers including Singapore’s Grab and various e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada.
Gojek is currently valued at $10 billion. Prominent investors include Google, Tencent and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek.
