LINE Acquires "Social Carpooling" Startup TemanJalan

Global messaging platform, LINE, announces its acquisition over social carpooling startup TemanJalan. Settled on November 17th, this become LINE's first acquisition for Indonesian startup. This move is said to support LINE on developing chatbot platform. There is no further information yet whether TemanJalan will still be an independent platform or will be an integral part of LINE products in Indonesia.

Two years ago, we reviewed TemanJalan, a platform to connect driver with travel companion to reduce cost. The concept is quite similar with standard carpool and hitch, but TemanJalan specifically aims for millennials.

Founded by Fauzan Helmi Sudaryanto, Caraka Nur Azmi, and Rasmunandar Rustam, TemanJalan was initially available on its own application. Its presence as LINE chatbot is said to increase usage, 70 times more than any other platform. TemanJalan is currently available in 50 universities with more than 100 thousands matches.

Fauzan Helmi Sudaryanto, TemanJalan's CEO and Co-Founder, said in the release, "We are delighted to join LINE. This acquisition is a form of trust in products and developers in Indonesia and shows the seriousness of LINE in developing and supporting local communities."

TemanJalan is acknowledged as successful example of native platform transformation into chatbot. We already asked LINE whether this continuous acquisition will be a strategy to strengthen its position in Indonesia.

Generally, among all big messaging platform, only LINE and BBM setup local representatives. Indonesia is one of LINE's four most-important market with Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Dale Kim, LINE Indonesia's Managing Director, mentioned, "LINE will continue to commit in developing chatbot platform in Indonesia. TemanJalan acquisition is a form of our capacity building. Along with TemanJalan, we obtain new engineering team to improve our ability in developing chatbot platform, also gain deeper insight in Indonesian market."

- Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian