Indonesian decacorn Gojek on Tuesday announced that it received a USD 150 million investment from Telkomsel, one of Indonesia’s largest network service provider. Together, the companies plan to launch new initiatives, such as joint promotions and product bundles, as well as projects in the digital lifestyle sector.
“Working with Gojek and its extensive ecosystem will accelerate Telkomsel’s growth as a digital telco,” president Setyanto Hantoro said in a statement. Both companies have been collaborating for some time—Telkomsel is supplying Gojek’s driver-partners with affordable data packages since 2018.
“By working together, we hope to help Indonesia become a true digital powerhouse in Southeast Asia, and bring the benefits of the digital economy to millions more consumers, driver-partners and small businesses,” said Gojek’s co-CEO Andre Soelistyo. The company recently announced that its annualized gross transaction value (GTV) in 2020 reached USD 12 billion, a 10% increase from last year.
Telkomsel’s parent company, Telkom Indonesia, has been eyeing an investment in the nation’s first decacorn—a company valued over USD 10 billion—since 2018 as part of its digital business expansion plan.
So far, Telkom has maintained a good track record in its investments either directly or through its CVC arm MDI Ventures. The company plans to actively invest in startups as part of its digital business expansion and accelerate the digital transformation of Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises.
Telkomsel is the largest wireless carrier in Indonesia, with 171 million subscribers in 2019, according to Telkom’s annual report. It is a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia and the Singaporean telco Singtel.