The millennial generation of Southeast Asia comprises of half of the region’s 644 million population. The region’s high internet penetration and growing middle class is driving the adoption of digital financial services.
Indonesian ride-hailing service Go-Jek’s value has been estimated at US$10 billion by a United States (US) market intelligence company, putting it in the ranks of start-ups called decacorns.New York-based CB Insights has listed Go-Jek among 19 decacorns around the world, along with the likes of Uber Technologies Inc.
Ever since Grab bought over Uber’s Southeast Asia-based business last March, social media has been abuzz with complaints against the ride-hailing giant. Complaints about Grab are mostly related to sudden hikes in fare prices after a deal which saw US-based Uber Technologies sell its Southeast Asia business for a 27.5 percent stake in Grab.
This year has been transformational for the ride hailing sector in Southeast Asia according to a recent joint report by Google and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. With the merger of Grab and Uber in March, and the latter’s withdrawal of services from the region, Grab has consolidated its leadership in the sector.
Indonesia’s strong economic growth in recent years has led to a flourishing digital economy. Over the past decade, Indonesia’s economy has been steadily growing at an annual growth rate of at least five percent and is forecasted to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050 if this trend continues. Along with economic growth comes a growing, tech-savvy middle class. The growing middle class in Indonesia is young and in touch with the latest trends and technologies.
Since its launch in 2010, Go-Jek has grown rapidly in Indonesia, a country that is home to more than 250 million inhabitants. Now, as the nation’s first and biggest unicorn looks beyond its shores, things are about to change.
Ever since Uber sold its Southeast Asia-based businesses to rival Grab, social media has been abuzz with complaints against Grab. Complaints against the ride-hailing company were mostly about how fare prices have gone up since the merger. Many are saying that since Grab has now established a monopoly over ride-hailing in the region, it is engaging in price-gouging tactics.
2017 was an exciting year for the e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia.
The competition between ride-hailing apps in the region could slowly become a one horse-race as the tech world has been rocked with rumours of Uber exiting the region. The speculation began after Japan’s SoftBank made a US$1.25 billion investment in Uber that effectively made them the company’s largest shareholder.
Mobile ride-hailing applications are modernising and enhancing urban transportation systems in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, 250 million people have embraced the use of apps such as Grab, Go-Jek and Uber, according to a 2018 ecommerceIQ (eIQ) - a market research brand dedicated to ecommerce - report.
Southeast Asian giants Grab and Go-Jek certainly have taken the a large share of recent headlines. Thanks to their dominant position in both local and international markets, the ridesharing giants have set tongues wagging not just within the ASEAN region, but also around the world thanks to the billions they’ve raised.
Go-Jek, Indonesia’s biggest ride-hailing service, agreed to acquire three local financial-technology companies, underscoring its ambition to become the dominant player in the country’s nascent digital-payments industry.The deals bring together Kartuku, Indonesia’s largest offline payments-processing company; Midtrans, the nation’s top online-payment gateway; and Mapan, a local community-based saving and lending network, Go-Jek said in a statement Friday.Collectively, Go-Jek and the three comp
