Facebook, PayPal back Gojek to boost digital payments in Asia

Indonesian ride-hailing giant Gojek today announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Facebook and PayPal as well as existing backers Google and Tencent. According to the company, this latest investment is part of its ongoing series F round and brings its total funds raised to over US$3 billion.

In March, the firm was said to have secured US$1.2 billion in new funding after raising US$1 billion in the first close of its series F round last year.

Photo credit: Tech in Asia Indonesia

The new funds will go toward developing the digital economy in Southeast Asia, with a focus on digital payments and financial services.

In 2015, Gojek launched its payments business GoPay to help micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises gain more access to the digital economy. The majority of these businesses rely on cash to operate due to the large unbanked population across the region.

The latest capital injection, Gojek said, will support more MSMEs and help them digitize further.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and its associated issues have served as a tough reminder that if our economies are to be more resilient, they must be underpinned by digital infrastructure that diversifies the ways in which people can live and transact,” said Gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo.

GoPay has since connected merchants to more than 170 million users in the region and processes billions of transactions each year, according to the company.

As part of the deal, PayPal’s payment capabilities will be integrated into Gojek, which will allow GoPay users to access the payment giant’s network of more than 25 million merchants globally.

The deal also marks Facebook’s first investment in an Indonesia-based business. According to the statement, the social networking giant is seeking to create new opportunities for businesses in the country, including its messaging app WhatsApp.

“Gojek, WhatsApp, and Facebook are important services in Indonesia. Through cooperation, we can help millions of MSMEs and their customers to join the largest digital economy community in Southeast Asia,” Matt Idema, chief operating officer of WhatsApp, said.

Facebook’s investment in Gojek follows its US$5.7 billion injection in Indian digital services firm Jio Platforms as part of its WhatsApp push.