Google confirms investment in Go-Jek

Google has confirmed that it is invested in Indonesia ride-hailing platform Go-Jek. This was part of the company’s initiatives to support and participate in Indonesia’s growth, according to a blog post revealing the move.The post added that Go-Jek is led by a strong Indonesian management team and has a proven track record of using technology to make life more convenient for Indonesians across the country. This allows Google to partner with “a great local champion in Indonesia’s flourishing startup ecosystem”, this is while showing its commitment to Indonesia’s internet economy. By investing in local companies, Google also looks to building locally relevant products and training local talent, and see more “amazing local champions” such as Go-Jek emerge in Indonesia.Google and Go-Jek did not disclose the financial details of the investment following Marketing's queries.A Go-Jek management spokesperson said in a statement that the Google investment will help the company accelerate its pace of innovation, particularly as it increases its focus on Indonesia."Google is one of the many exciting companies participating in our latest fundraising round. We are proud that there has been significant interest in Go-Jek as it demonstrates the uniqueness of our model and shows that global business leaders believe in our company, our management team and the work we are doing," the spokesperson said.The spokesperson added that the investment will allow Google to learn from Go-Jek's experience in developing micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses. In turn, Go-Jek will learn best practices from world-class operators as we continues to work towards "revolutionising technology for the benefit of millions of Indonesians".Google was most recently tipped to be investing in the ride-hailing platform along with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, according to Reuters sources, in a recent funding round. This also saw companies such as Meituan-Dianping is also taking part in the investment round.According to the report, the fund round also involves Go-Jek’s existing investors such as global private equity firms KKR & Co LP and Warburg Pincus LLC. This is to raise around US$1.2 billion in total. The round is expected to close in a few weeks.Read also:Indonesia’s Go-Jek secures US$550 million in new fundingGo-Jek’s new offering in JakartaGo-Jek’s Singapore office to focus on data science for nowBank Indonesia orders Go-Pay to stop QR code related activities