JD.com reportedly invests in Indonesia's Go-Jek amid SE Asia push

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JD.com Inc has invested in Indonesian ride-hailing startup Go-Jek, said people familiar with the matter, in the latest move by China’s second-largest e-commerce firm to tap growth in Southeast Asian mobile-based services.

Go-Jek, whose investors include global private equity firms KKR & Co and Warburg Pincus as well as venture capitalist Sequoia Capital, has raised about 100 million US dollars from JD.com, one of the people said.

The startup is raising up to one billion US dollars from existing and new investors in its latest funding round and has a pre-money valuation of about 2.5 billion US dollars, the person said.

The people declined to be identified as the financing plans are not public. JD.com and Go-Jek declined to comment.

Indonesia currently accounts for almost all of JD.com’s investments outside China, which include an e-commerce platform and travel startup Traveloka.

JD.com’s investment in Go-Jek follows that of Chinese social media and online entertainment firm Tencent, which is also an investor in JD.com. It was reported by Reuters last month that Tencent had invested 100 million to 150 million US dollars in Go-Jek.

The people said Tencent is also in talks with Go-Jek for further investment as a strategic investor.

A Gojek driver rides his motorcycle through a business district street in Jakarta. /Reuters Photo

Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investment in Southeast Asia by some of China’s largest tech firms point to ambitions to boost their presence in a region that many expect to produce the next batch of high-valued tech startups.

Alibaba and Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing firm, have also been investing in Southeast Asia, home to more than 600 million people and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Didi, along with Japan’s SoftBank, last month led a financing round of 2.5 billion US dollars, which is of Singapore-based Grab as one of Go-Jek’s biggest rivals in Southeast Asia.

Go-Jek, which began as a ride-hailing app for motorcycle taxis, mainly operates in Indonesia, the region’s most populous country, which has grown to be a large potential market for Grab and Uber.

Amid fierce competition in ride-hailing, Go-Jek is also developing food delivery business that a separate person said yields a much higher margin than car-hailing. Its mobile payment business, Go-Pay, is growing rapidly as it is complementary with other Go-Jek offerings, the person said.

Source(s): Reuters