Facebook, WhatsApp, And PayPal To Invest On Indonesian App Gojek

On Wednesday, Facebook, WhatsApp, and PayPal Holdings said that they have invested in Indonesian payment, food delivery, and ride-hailing company, Gojek, as part of its ongoing fundraising round. Other tech giants in investing in the fundraising include Tencent and Google.

Investment from all giants will be focused on supporting Gojek’s mission to boost Southeast Asia’s digital economy. Indonesia’s first unicorn will focus on supporting payments and financial services in the region.

The size of the investment from Facebook, WhatsApp, and PayPal was not disclosed. But, according to a regulatory filing, Facebook now owns a 2.4 percent stake and PayPal owns 0.6 percent of Gojek’s GoPay. The investment is Facebook’s first in Southeast Asia’s leading economy, Indonesia.

In 2010, Gojek started as a motorcycle ride-hailing call center and launched an app five years later, in 2015. The app soon turned into a super-app offering a wide range of services including deliveries, takeaway food, and financial services.

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In a blog post, Matt Idema, WhatsApp Chief Operations Officer, said that the company will work with Gojek to support the growth of millions of small businesses. This is expected to help Facebook and WhatsApp tap into the fast-growing e-commerce sector of the country.

The news comes just after a month since Facebook announced its $5.7 billion investment in India’s Reliance Industries. Furthermore, PayPal is also expected to integrate its payment services into the Gojek app as part of the agreement.

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The startup said that their app has connected hundreds of thousands of traders thought their platform. The company has more than 170 million users spread across the region.