Brief: JD said to back Go-Jek in latest $1b round

Go-Jek CEO Nadiem Makarim on stage at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2016. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

The news (extracted from The Information):

• Chinese online retailer JD has invested in Indonesian Uber rival Go-Jek, according to people familiar with the matter.
• JD made its investment as part of Go-Jek’s latest funding round which is expected to raise close to US$1.2 billion from investors also including Tencent.
• JD told Tech in Asia that it doesn’t comment on market rumors as company policy.

Why it matters:

• Competition between ride-hailing companies is fierce in Southeast Asia. Go-Jek appears to have cornered its home market, while Grab looks to have the edge over Uber in most other countries. Of the three rivals, Go-Jek has arguably done the most to diversify, moving into areas such as online payments and events ticketing.
• JD has come a little later to the proxy VC war being waged between Chinese corporates in Southeast Asia. Alibaba and Tencent – which is a majority shareholder in JD – have made numerous big-ticket investments in the region’s ride-hailing, bike-sharing, and ecommerce spaces.
• After supposedly missing out on a stake in Indonesia’s Tokopedia, JD was this week reported to be in talks to expand into the Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese ecommerce markets.