Where’s Go-Jek’s place in the ride-hailing war?

The week was dominated by monumental movements in the ride-hailing industry.

Uber’s China division was acquired by Didi Chuxing. Next, Didi poured US$600 million into Southeast Asia’s Grab.

Today, Indonesia’s Go-Jek confirmed that it raised a fresh US$550 million round. It begs the question: Where’s Go-Jek’s place in the global ride-hailing landscape?

The answer is, most likely, nowhere.

Not in the gang

Go-Jek shares some investors with Ola, Didi, and Lyft. You’d think that puts it in a natural alignment with the anti-Uber coalition.

But that group also contains Grab, Go-Jek’s nemesis in Southeast Asia.

The rivalry between the two startups is personal. Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim says he and Grab founder Anthony Tan, once friends at Harvard, aren’t on speaking terms.

This animosity makes it less likely for Go-Jek to join Didi’s ranks alongside Grab in the anti-Uber alliance that formed at the end of last year.

A different beast

Look at Go-Jek’s most recent investors – private equity firms KKR and Warburg Pincus. They are not from the incestuous group of investors deeply entrenched in the ride-hailing war.

It gives Go-Jek greater independence to define its own future.

That’s important because, although the startup specializes in on-demand motorcycle transportation, it offers a plethora of other goods and services, including food delivery, house cleaning, and event tickets. In the funding announcement, the startup calls itself an “on-demand mobile platform.” It’s likely following a different playbook than Uber, Ola, and the others.

Go-Jek’s strength: motorcycle rides. Photo credit: Go-Jek.

Cars for personal transportation – Uber and Grab’s core offering – were added late, almost like an afterthought. (The partnership with Indonesia’s largest taxi company, Blue Bird, set to begin this month or next, could take some of the pressure off Go-Jek to grow its own driver network.)

Global dilemma