Indonesia's Go-Jek going into Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines

[SINGAPORE] INDONESIA's ride-hailing startup Go-Jek is making its first move outside its home base, announcing on Thursday that it will invest about US$500 million to spread into four new markets in the next four months - Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

This will bring it up against Singapore-based Grab, which already operates in Indonesia, South-east Asia's largest ride-hailing market, and is fresh from its takeover of Uber's ride-hailing business in the region.

In Singapore, Go-Jek will be the biggest by far of several new players - like India's Jugnoo, Malaysia's DacSee and blockchain application MVL - who are poised to enter the market here following Uber's retreat.

Local carpooling platform Ryde has already made its move into the private-hire car turf.

Go-Jek chief executive officer and founder Nadiem Makarim said: "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... In the meantime, we hope our presence will provide the welcome competition markets need to thrive."

Go-Jek said on Thursday it is working with regulators and other stakeholders across the region to pave the way for the new operations.

Go-Jek has reportedly been in talks with Singapore taxi giant ComfortDelGro over a tie-up. Both said last month they would not comment on rumours or speculation.

Go-Jek said its expansion into the four countries will start with ride-hailing services but it also aims to replicate its other services offered in Indonesia - from food delivery and grocery shopping to house cleaning and massage - to its new markets.

It raised about US$1.5 billion in a fundraising round in February, higher than its initial target of US$1.2 billion. Its latest fundraising round received backing from Temasek, Google, Astra International, JD.com, Meituan and Tencent among others.

Go-Jek is reportedly also planning to launch its bike-taxi service in India in the second half of 2018.