Confirmed: Sequoia Capital invested in Indonesia’s Go-Jek

Indonesia’s “Uber for motorcycles” service Go-Jek is one of the country’s hottest startups. But it’s also very secretive. The startup has not announced any funding news since it was established way back in 2011. So far, we’ve only been able to disclose on-record that Go-Jek is backed by NSI Ventures.

In recent months, there’s been a great deal of speculation about it getting more funding – with rumors saying Sequoia Capital had invested in Go-Jek. However, it seems Sequoia has now made the investment in Go-Jek somewhat official after including the firm’s logo and description in its online portfolio (pictured below).

CEO Nadiem Makarim and CFO Kevin Aluwi have been hush-hush about the investment, preferring to remain in the shadows and keep funding information off the record when interviewed by Tech in Asia.

Local tech junkies are sure to yawn and say, “Sure, we already know about the funding. We do talk to people around town.” But for an outsider looking in, perhaps the investor-investee relationship might not be so obvious. Nadiem told Tech in Asia on-record that Go-Jek has more than five offices in Jakarta. The company’s deep pockets are also evident from Go-Jek’s relentless rollouts: food delivery service Go-Food, parcel delivery service Go-Box, grocery delivery service Go-Mart, with more sure to follow.

See: This guy turned Go-Jek into Indonesia’s hottest startup
In the past, Nadiem said Indonesian entrepreneurs should have the courage to take a lot of money, spend it fast, and go for broke. If he heeds his own advice, then that’s exactly what he and Kevin are doing with Sequoia’s money: going for broke.

Arguably, Go-Jek is top-of-mind in the capital when it comes to motorcycle transport, but Nadiem will still have to duke it out with GrabBike’s Anthony Tan for the title of Indonesia’s motorcycle champion. The firm’s parent company GrabTaxi reached unicorn status, with a US$1.5 billion valuation after a recent funding round.