Earlier in April this year, Indonesia ride-hailing app Go-Jek has been in talks with ComfortDelGro regarding a “potential partnership” in Singapore.
It brought up speculations of it expanding to Singapore, especially since it also opened a data science office here last year.
Today, Go-Jek officially announced that it will invest about US$500 million (S$672 million) to enter four new markets – Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines – within the next four months.
This expansion will see Go-Jek introducing ride-hailing services first, but it intends to eventually replicate its other services offered in Indonesia such as food and grocery deliveries.
However, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has previously released a statement stating that if Go-Jek indeed rolls out its services in Singapore, it won’t be able to launch their main motorcycle taxi service here.
“Motorcycles are not allowed to be used for point-to-point transport services, unlike taxis and private-hire cars,” said LTA.
Currently, Go-Jek is working with regulators and other stakeholders across the region to pave way for the new operations.
It added that it will provide “technological support and expertise” to the respective four markets, and each of them will “determine their own brands and identities” to gain traction.
In February this year, Go-Jek raised about US$1.5 billion in a fundraising round, backed by investors such as Astra International, Google, JD.Com, Meituan, Tencent and Temasek, among others.
Go-Jek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim / Image Credit: Forbes
According to Go-Jek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim, it intends to fill Uber’s gap in the Southeast Asia market and give consumers in this region more options with its service.
“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.”
“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.”
Featured Image Credit: Reuters
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