Telkomsel Channels Follow-on Funding to Gojek Worth 4.3 Trillion Rupiah

Telkomsel today (5/10) announced follow-on funding to Gojek worth $300 million or equivalent to 4.3 trillion Rupiah. In fact, this act has been discussed since last April, carried by a statement from its President Director, Setyanto Hantoro.

Previously, Telkomsel's first batch for Gojek was announced in November 2020. Then, the value given has reached $150 million (equivalent to Rp2.1 trillion).

In the official release, it is said that both companies signaled this investment as a momentum to strengthen and deepen collaboration for comprehensive digital services and more innovative solutions.

It is also mentioned taht this strategic investment action was supported by Telkomsel's shareholders, Telkom Indonesia and the Singtel Group.

"[..] Telkomsel is optimistic that the latest investment will open up more opportunities for the public to see and make use of more advanced local-produced technology-based innovations," Setyanto said.

He continued, this corporate action is part of Telkomsel's strategy in strengthening the trifecta of the company's digital business, Digital Connectivity, Digital Platform, and Digital Services.

Since the first injection, several joint initiatives that have been successfully initiated by the two companies include: (1) integration of Telkomsel MyAds with GoBiz; (2) Gojek partners can become Telkomsel reseller partners through DigiPOS; (3) special data packages for driver partners on GoPartner and MyTelkomsel; (4) Telkomsel partners in the GoShop application; and (5) collaboration between Telkomsel Dunia Games and Gopay.

“[..] Telkomsel's follow-on funding will clearly optimize the resources and technology expertise of each company to innovate and expand the benefits of the digital economy for more consumers, driver partners, and MSME players throughout Indonesia. We are both confident and committed that this partnership will support the acceleration of Indonesia's digital transformation which will strengthen Indonesia's position as the leader of the digital economy market in Southeast Asia,” Gojek Group's Co-CEO, Andre Soelistyo explained.

Telkomsel's entrance amidst the merger finalization news of Gojek and Tokopedia -  the joint company is rumored to go public on the stock exchange soon. It's indeed create a strategic value for Telkomsel as a shareholder, especially since both startups are currently the market leaders [local] in its respective segments.

Meanwhile, Telkomsel and Gojek have crossed paths several times [indirectly]. First, when Gojek announced its investment in the LinkAja payment platform through series B round in early March. It is known that the LinkAja's root was Tcash service which was previously developed by Telkomsel - Telkom Group and some SOE shareholders.

Second, Telkomsel, through its investment arm, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi, recently participated in Halodoc's series C funding worth 1.1 trillion Rupiah. Gojek is an early investor of this healthtech service.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian