Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek is taking its rivalry with Singapore-based Grab to the regional stage after the former announced that it’s expanding to four Southeast Asia countries within the next few months.
Confirming weeks of rumors about a potential expansion in the region, Go-Jek President Andre Soelistyo, in an interview with CNBC today, announced that the company will invest about US$500 million (IDR7 trillion) to move into four new markets in Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.
“We visited all those countries and we felt like the solutions that we provided in Indonesia will probably be suitable to some of these countries,” Andre told CNBC.
The Straits Times reported that Go-Jek’s expansion into the countries will begin with its flagship ride-hailing service, but will likely expand to other services like those already provided in Indonesia which range from food delivery, on-call massage, to online ticket purchasing.
“Consumers are happiest when they have choice, and at the moment, people in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines don’t feel that they’re getting enough when it comes to ride-hailing,” Go-Jek CEO and founder Nadiem Makarim told The Straits Times.
“We hope that as we arrive in new markets, we will quickly become everyone’s go-to lifestyle app. That is our aspiration. In the meantime, we hope our presence will provide the welcome competition markets need to thrive.”
There has been a void in competition for Grab in several Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia excluded) following the departure of Uber from the region last month. Go-Jek has since been tipped to challenge Grab’s regional dominance, especially after the former raised a higher than expected US$1.5 billion in a fundraising round in February.
Go-Jek is currently valued at US$5 billion, according to private financial market database PitchBook, making it the only Indonesian company to make their list of 30 most valuable venture-backed private companies in the world.
