Telkomsel, the mobile network subsidiary of telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia, has invested $300m in Indonesia-based ride hailing service Gojek, having supplied $150m for the company in November 2020, TechCrunch reported today.
Gojek runs an app-based on-demand ride service which has expanded into food, package and grocery delivery in addition to mobile financial services.
The funding comes as the company prepares to merge with e-commerce marketplace Tokopedia in a deal that will create a company called GoTo which would be valued at about $18bn. The deal is reportedly expected to be formally agreed by the end of next month.
Telkomsel CEO Setyanto Hantoro said in a statement quoted by TechCrunch: “Telkomsel is optimistic that this latest investment will open more opportunities for society to access advanced digital technology-based innovations developed by homegrown companies.”
The corporate’s last investment was made in the wake of contributions of undisclosed size by social media company Facebook and digital payment processor PayPal in June 2020 as part of a series F round with a $3bn target that has not been officially closed.
Gojek raised $1.2bn from undisclosed investors three months earlier, having received undisclosed sums from diversified conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation, payment services provider Visa and financial services firm Siam Commercial Bank in July 2019 and insurance firm AIA two months later.
Diversified conglomerate Astra International had invested $100m in Gojek in March 2019, Mitsubishi having joined internet group Tencent, e-commerce firm JD.com, internet technology provider Google and Provident Capital in a $1bn round the previous month.
The company had secured $1.5bn from Astra, Tencent, Google, JD.com, insurance firm Allianz’s Allianz X unit, local services portal Meituan-Dianping, e-commerce company Blibli, Temasek, Warburg Pincus and KKR across 2017 and early 2018, valuing it at $4.8bn.
Gojek had been valued at $1.3bn as of the close of a 2016 round sized at over $550m that included Rakuten Ventures, a subsidiary of e-commerce firm Rakuten, in addition to KKR, Warburg Pincus, Farallon Capital, Capital Group Private Markets, Sequoia India, Northstar Group, DST Global, NSI Ventures and Formation Group.
