Gojek acquires payments startup Moka for US$130m: sources

[SINGAPORE] Indonesia's ride-hailing and food-delivery giant Gojek has acquired a mobile point-of-sale startup called Moka for about US$130 million, according to people familiar with the deal.

The transaction, which has been under negotiations since last year, was completed about a month ago, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. It hasn't been announced publicly.

Gojek is taking advantage of a recent fundraising to cement its position in the country's digital payments industry. The outbreak of the coronavirus is accelerating a shift away from cash as more people shy away from touching bills and coins.

Jakarta-based Moka, present in more than 100 cities across Indonesia, provides point-of-sale and payments services to owners of more than 35,000 restaurants, coffee shops and retail outlets.

The Moka app, which can be downloaded to a tablet or smartphone, lets merchants accept debit and credit cards or mobile wallets like WeChat Pay and GoPay. It also provides analytics to help track sales and inventory, run loyalty programmess and manage employees.

A Gojek representative declined to comment, while a Moka official wasn't immediately reachable.

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Gojek, Indonesia's most valuable startup at US$10 billion, said last month it had raised US$1.2 billion for expansion, defying tech-sector turbulence and the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, Gojek's co-chief executive officers and senior management pledged to funnel 25 per cent of their salaries over the next 12 months into a fund designed to support its drivers and merchants during the pandemic.

"Regardless whether it's good times or bad times, you have to build a really solid foundation of the business," Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO of Gojek's e-payment unit GoPay, said in a Bloomberg TV interview this month. "We are very lucky to have secured the funding as a group and we are in a position to execute it."

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