In light of the recent Grab-Uber merger, a similar ride-hailing company have used this opportunity to launch their own service similar to the giants’.
However, it doesn’t feel like the monopoly is threatened.
Now, Grab’s Southeast Asian rival, Go-Jek has dropped a hint on its plans in the region, as a shareholder revealed to The Straits Times that it has “plans to expand to Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam this year”, according to TNP.
Go-Car Threatens GrabCar
The Indonesia-based bike-hailing company will be launching its Go-Car service to Singapore, which works like the GrabCar and UberX services and allows cash and card payments.
It’s a well-known fact that Go-Jek’s founder, Nadiem Makarim, and Grab’s Anthony Tan were classmates at Harvard Business School.
After news of the merger, Go-Jek had published a tribute to Uber, thanking them for the work and impact they have made in the region.
With this move, it seems the tension between the two companies is getting increasingly apparent.
As the Competition Commissions of Singapore conducts its investigation on Uber’s acquisition, will the launch of the Go-Car service affect the interim measures they have proposed?
Jek Of All Trades
Last year, when Go-Jek opened an office in Singapore, we speculated that they would be launching their signature motorcycle-taxi service.
However, we later found out that the space is used for their data science team.
In January this year, it was reported that by Reuters that Go-Jek raised a total of $1.2 billion in a funding led by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan-Dianping.
According to this thread, Go-Jek had announced its plans to expand to the Philippines and India in early 2018, with Philippines as a “the first one just to figure out how things work.”
All these point to the increasing demand of such services in Southeast Asia, where there are 640 million people to serve, according to Reuters.
The thread echoed a similar notion, quoting this, “After Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand have the most number of people in the region, with a combined population of about 270 million.”
It added that it has also increased its offerings to include digital payments, food delivery, shopping, and cleaning, just to name a few.
Perhaps, all of their services except their bike-taxi service will come to Singapore following a successful uptake with Go-Car?
Featured Image Credit: Qerja