Gojek invests in Indonesian e-wallet LinkAja, joins Grab as investor

GOJEK has invested in LinkAja, joining Grab as an investor in the Indonesian state-backed e-wallet startup.

Under the partnership, LinkAja will be included as an additional payment method on the Gojek app in Indonesia, allowing users to pay for selected Gojek services with LinkAja. Users on the LinkAja app will also be able to make payments for selected Gojek services.

The two parties said in a statement on Tuesday that LinkAja's platform is currently largely focused on payments for retail, public services and other daily needs, with about 80 per cent of its registered users coming from Indonesia's second and third-tier cities.

On the other hand, Gojek's GoPay e-wallet is used by Indonesia's retail businesses, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as for daily services within the Gojek platform.

Said Gojek co-chief executive Andre Soelistyo: "This partnership gives us an opportunity to combine our technological strengths and digital footprint and work together to improve the adoption of cashless payments for more people throughout the country."

With Gojek's investment, LinkAja's ongoing Series B fund-raising round has now exceeded US$100 million.

Last December, Grab had announced that it was leading the funding round, with an expected US$100 million in commitments into LinkAja. It was LinkAja's first external investment from a private company, and had been widely viewed as a salvo from Grab against Gojek's e-wallet, The Business Times reported.