Facebook and PayPal Invest in Gojek

Gojek, today (03/6) announces Facebook and PayPal as the new investors in the latest round with undisclosed nominal. Google and Tencent also pour their investment; previously they had joined the previous round in 2018.

Previously noted, Gojek’s latest round was a Series F. Various investors, especially global corporations, had taken part. This fund is focused on expanding activities and tightening the company's competitive value.

In their official statement, the two investors want to support Gojek's mission, through GoPay, in driving digital economic growth in Southeast Asia, with a focus on payment and financial services. It is considering most of SMEs in this region rely on cash in their transactions.

More SMEs are targeted towards digitalization. It starts from small and medium-sized businesses that operate in roadside shops, also large-scale businesses with objectives to build up their digital payment infrastructure.

The four investors, which in fact are global technology companies, will synergize all of their resources, therefore, the mission can be launched immediately..

Gojek's Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo said Facebook, PayPal, Google, and Tencent are some kind of acknowledgment as the most innovative technology companies in the world saw Gojek's positive impact on Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

"With this collaboration, we have the opportunity to achieve something truly unique in line with our efforts to support more digitalization in the business world and ensure millions of customers benefit from the digital economy," he said, Wednesday (3/6).

The statement also made by the Facebook representative. WhatsApp’s COO Matt Idema said; Gojek, WhatsApp and Facebook are important services in Indonesia. "Through collaboration, we can help millions of SMEs and their customers to join the largest digital economic community in Southeast Asia," he said.

As a highlight, Gojek was the first Indonesian company to receive investment from Facebook. The company wants to create business opportunities in Indonesia, including through the widely used instant messaging service, WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, PayPal will have a collaboration with Gojek. PayPal will open its network which has reached 25 million merchants worldwide.

Head of Corporate Development and Ventures for APAC PayPal, Farhad Maleki added, "Southeast Asia is at a very crucial point in the process of digital adoption which can create new opportunities to provide financial services to unbanked or underbanked consumers and service providers."

"We are very excited about having a strategic connection with Gojek to expand access and provide new experiences for us in this very dynamic market and throughout the world," he continued.

Since the establishment in 2015, Gojek claims to have successfully helped hundreds of thousands of merchants to digitize and give them access to more than 170 million Gojek users throughout Southeast Asia. GoPay alone has facilitated billions of transactions every year and has become one of the largest digital wallet services in Indonesia.

The achievement majorly came from the GoFood food delivery service line and the expansion of GoPay coverage in other sectors, both inside and outside the Gojek ecosystem.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian