Gojek invests in LinkAja as mobile payments war heats up

Gojek has invested in Indonesian fintech payments company LinkAja. With this investment, LinkAja’s ongoing Series B fundraising round has now exceeded US$100 million. The investment comes shortly after LinkAja attracted Gojek rival Grab’s investment last year.

According to a joint statement, this funding further enhances the ability of both companies to strengthen the adoption of digital financial services and accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia. As part of the partnership, LinkAja will be included as an additional payment method on the Gojek app in Indonesia, enabling users to pay for select additional Gojek services with LinkAja. Users will also be able to make payments for select Gojek services when transacting on the LinkAja app.

The partnership between the two companies will give consumers and businesses more options, bringing about greater convenience to the millions using Gojek and LinkAja’s services daily. This integration builds on Gojek’s existing partnership with LinkAja, through which LinkAja is included as a payment method for transportation and ticket reservation services on the Gojek app.

“By combining forces, Gojek and LinkAja will create seamless cashless payments experiences across complementary market segments that cover a wide range of user needs,” the statement read.

Presently, LinkAja’s platform is largely focused on payments for retail, public services and other daily needs, with  approximately 80% of its registered users coming from Indonesia’s tier two and three cities, while GoPay serves the payment needs of Indonesia’s retail sector and businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as daily services within the Gojek platform.

Haryati Lawidjaja, CEO of LinkAja, said, "We are very excited to have Gojek join us as a shareholder, following the investment made by LinkAja's other prominent shareholders in our Series B fundraising.”

Lawidjaja added that this investment provides LinkAja with greater access to the Gojek ecosystem, which will further support LinkAja’s purpose to accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia.

“This strategic investment is a further validation of our growth and progress as a start up founded by the ministry of state owned enterprises in delivering our mission to accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia, particularly for the underbanked and unbanked, and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segments. Through this strategic partnership, we aim to create a bigger and wider impact on the Indonesian economy," Lawidjaja said.  

Andre Soelistyo, Gojek co-CEO, said, “As a company, we have always had a deep focus on supporting everyone in Indonesia to enjoy the benefits of the digital economy. Our drive to enhance financial inclusion by providing the unbanked and underbanked with access to services that improve their lives is a commitment that is shared by LinkAja.”

Soelistyo added that as leading homegrown companies, this partnership gives both parties the opportunity to combine technological strengths and digital footprint and work together to improve the adoption of cashless payments for more people throughout the country.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching impact have emphasised the importance of digital payments in our daily lives, which makes this collaboration especially timely. With LinkAja as a strategic partner, we hope to reach out to even more businesses and consumers and give them new ways to transact.”

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