Gojek: Facebook And PayPal Joins As Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2020
  • Facebook and PayPal are now investors in Indonesia-based Gojek. These are the details about the funding news.

Facebook and PayPal are now investors in Gojek. They are joining other tech giants like Google and Tencent as investors in the Indonesia-based on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment company. Gojek is also heavily used for food delivery and ride-sharing services. Facebook and PayPal did not disclose the size of the investment.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook and PayPal had participated in Gojek’s ongoing Series F round of funding. So far, Gojek has raised over $3 billion in total funding.

Like Facebook’s investment in Jio Platforms, the Gojek deal was strategic on behalf of its WhatsApp messaging service. Along with helping small businesses overseas, the deal with Gojek would also help Facebook monetize the WhatsApp messaging service. Facebook had acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion back in 2014. Now WhatsApp is being used by over 2 billion people per month.

WhatsApp chief operating officer Matthew Idema said that the companies will work together to “bring millions of small businesses and the customers they serve into the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia.”

Most small businesses in Indonesia depend on cash to operate due to a large portion of the population being unbanked. But digital payments are much safer than cash for businesses and customers.

“This new relationship is another positive step in our journey towards becoming the worldwide payments partner of choice, and helping to fuel global commerce by connecting the world’s leading marketplaces and payment networks,” added PayPal in a statement.

Back in March, Gojek said it raised $1.2 billion at a valuation of about $10 billion. And now the company has over 170 million users across Southeast Asia.

“By working together, we have the opportunity to achieve something truly unique as we aim to help more businesses to digitise and ensure that many millions more consumers are enjoying the benefits that the digital economy can bring,” explained Gojek co-CEO Andre Soelistyo in a statement.