Go-Jek, former Grab CTO’s startup among latest Google Launchpad entrants

Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, US / Photo credit: bennymarty / 123RF

Google has unveiled the latest cohort of startups for its Launchpad Studio program. Four out of the 10 entrants hail from Asia, with Indonesian ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek among them.

Launchpad Studio is a sister scheme to Launchpad Accelerator, which is a six-month program for early-stage, emerging market startups.

Studio, on the other hand, is specifically aimed at established, product-focused startups working with artificial intelligence and machine-learning tech. It doesn’t necessarily invest in participating companies, but it does give them an opportunity to work in tandem with Google’s AI and business experts to improve their product offerings.

Studio’s first intake was in November last year, and it had a medical and healthcare theme.

The new batch will be focused on fintech and financial services.

Familiar faces

Notably, Go-Jek is one of the Asian startups to have been selected for the program. While the firm may still be better known for its ride-hailing app, its Go-Pay digital wallet has gained widespread adoption in Indonesia, while the company has also moved into other financial services such as loans and insurance. This week, it announced partnerships with Indonesian peer-to-peer lending portals Aktivaku, Dana Cita, and Findaya.

Google joined Go-Jek’s reported US$1.5 billion funding round earlier this year.

Another new Studio inductee is headed up by a former executive at Go-Jek’s key rival, Grab. Axinan, which was founded by ex-Grab chief technology officer Wei Zhu, is developing online insurance products for things like ecommerce purchases. Wei Zhu also had stints at Microsoft and Facebook.

Axinan raised a seven-figure US dollar amount of funding in February this year, in a series A round led by Openspace Ventures with participation from Linear Ventures.

See: Former Grab CTO wants to shake up insurance for the digital economy

Other Asian startups joining Studio include small-business lender Aye Finance and mPaani, both from India. Aye Finance raised US$21.5 million series C funding in June from investors including Google affiliate CapitalG. Mpaani – which uses loyalty rewards and special offers to gather marketing insights – has also participated in Launchpad Accelerator.

Frontier Car Group – based in Germany, but with operations in Asia Pacific – is another new Studio entrant. It runs online used-car marketplaces with online valuation and financing services including BeliMobilGue in Indonesia and CarFirst in Pakistan.