Gojek quietly lays the groundwork for its digital banking ambitions

Indonesian super app Gojek is spinning out its financial services arm, GoFinance, into an independent entity called Digital Katalis, or Dkatalis for short, Tech in Asia understands from public filings and sources familiar with the situation. The move is likely being made to ease compliance with Indonesia’s banking regulations.

The reshuffling comes at a pivotal moment for the Gojek, which saw its co-founder Nadiem Makarim leave his chief executive post for politics even as the company grapples with growing concerns about its regional expansion efforts.

Gojek co-CEOs Andre Soelistyo (left) and Kevin Aluwi / Photo credit: Gojek

But behind the scenes, Gojek has been building its foundations for the launch of its financial services. Internally, rank-and-file GoFinance staff, who are being asked to move to Dkatalis, have also been seeking answers about the salaries, leadership, and reporting structure as well as the renewals of their Singapore-issued Employment Passes under the new regime, Tech in Asia has learned.

Gojek declined to comment on this story, but details about the spinoff have been coming out in dribs and drabs. Even before GoFinance employees were notified, Dkatalis has been staffing up through job ads in various locations including Singapore, Jakarta, and Pune, India. On LinkedIn, it positions itself as a Gojek collaborator that is working on “comprehensive financial services” built on the “Go-ecosystem.”

A public filing of its Singapore entity, Dkatalis Private Limited, shows that one of the directors is Indonesian citizen Jerry Ng. He’s likely the same Jerry Ng who is the majority shareholder of MEI, a management consulting firm that was in the process of acquiring a substantial chunk of Indonesia’s Bank Artos.

While the bank has denied rumors that it is being acquired by Gojek or holding any talks with the super app, it seems that Ng’s involvement could herald a partnership down the line.

Dkatalis has also described itself on LinkedIn as being “created by visionaries who brought you the first banking reinvented in Indonesia” – a possible reference to Jenius, which was widely publicized as the country’s first digital bank. It was launched by Indonesian lender BTPN when Ng served as the latter’s president director.

Unseen players

While Gojek is Dkatalis’s major partner, a couple of unseen but important third-parties are involved. The public filing further shows that the Singapore entity, Dkatalis Private Limited, has Neuroncredit Pte Ltd as a minority shareholder, with offshore companies owning the rest of the equity. However, Neuroncredit is in turn majority-owned by the same Singapore entity.

Another notable detail is Advance AI’s involvement in Neuroncredit, where it appears to be a significant minority shareholder. The Singapore-based startup specializes in deep learning techniques for rooting out financial fraud.

Chun Dong Chau, Advance AI’s co-founder, is a director of Neuroncredit, while another co-founder, Jefferson Chen, appears to be a director in Dkatalis alongside Ng. Neither Chau nor Chen have responded to Tech in Asia’s questions.

The startup has attracted prominent investors like Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary of Singapore state fund Temasek, as well as Chinese venture capital firm Gaorong Capital. Advance AI also claims to have over 300 enterprise clients, including BPTN.

Regulatory move

The seemingly arms-length relationship between Gojek and Dkatalis appears to be a way of helping the super app navigate Indonesia’s complex regulations and maybe the regulations of other countries.

In Indonesia, while the Ministry of Communication and IT has oversight over the tech industry in general, e-money licenses are under the central bank while banking licenses are under the Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK).