GoTo (Indonesian company)

PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk, trading as GoTo, is an Indonesian technology company. The company was formed in 2021 in a merger — the largest in the country at that time — between two major startups: the ride-hailing company Gojek and the e-commerce firm Tokopedia.
Considered as one of three super-app giants in Southeast Asia (other than Grab and Shopee), GoTo is the most valuable startup in Indonesia and contributes to about 2% of the country's GDP. The company (as Gojek or GoTo) has been included multiple times in Fortune's Change The World List, which includes tech companies such as Microsoft, Accenture, Airbnb, Apple, Tencent, and Shopee.
Gojek was started by Nadiem Makarim in 2010 as a call center and 20 ojeks (motorcycle taxi) to arrange transportation and courier deliveries. In 2015, Gojek started an app which boosted the orders from 3,000 to 10,000 orders per day, and expanded the services including food delivery, ticket sales, etc. In 2017, Gojek become Indonesia's first unicorn startup, with orders up to 300,000 per day.
In 2017, Gojek is one of Fortune's change the world list. Listed as 17th, Gojek outperformed tech company giants such as Microsoft, Accenture, and Airbnb. Companies that outperformed Gojek in the list include Apple, Tencent. In 2019, Gojek is also included as the 11th in the list, the only Southeast Asian companies included in the list. In 2022, GoTo received the same awards, the highest ranking of any Southeast Asian companies, which include Sea Ltd (parent company of Shopee), and Bukalapak.
In 2019, the founder Nadiem Makarim left the company and become the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Indonesia.
Tokopedia was founded by William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison in 2009, and received funding from Indonusa Dwitama in the same year. In the following years, Tokopedia received another funding from global venture capitalists such as East Ventures in 2010, Cyber Agent Ventures in 2011, Netprice in 2012, and Softbank Ventures Korea in 2013. In 2014, Tokopedia is the first technology company in Southeast Asia to receive US$100 million, received from Sequoia Capital and Softbank Internet and Media Inc.
In August 2017, Tokopedia received an investment of US$1.1 billion from Alibaba. In the same year, Tokopedia reached a Unicorn status. In December 2018, Tokopedia received further funding worth US$1.1 billion from a number of investors, where the funding series was led by Softbank Vision Fund and Alibaba Group.
Relationship between Gojek and Tokopedia started in a 2015 partnership, where Gojek drivers provide same-day deliveries for Tokopedia products during off-peak riding hours.
In early 2021, there was a rumor of a merger between Gojek and its Singaporean competitor, Grab. Then, discussions for a merger between Gojek and Tokopedia were accelerated after talks on an agreement between Gojek and Grab Holding Inc reached an impasse.
On 17 May 2021, both Gojek and Tokopedia announced their intention to merger, choosing the name "GoTo" as the abbreviation of Gojek and Tokopedia, and also abbreviation of gotong-royong, a Javanese ethos meaning "working together". The merger was finalized in May 2021, with newly formed entity had 100 million monthly active users, more than 11 million merchants, and over 2 million drivers and offered e-commerce, ride-hailing, food delivery and financial services among other offerings. Around the time of the merger, GoTo set up its financial services arm, GoTo Financial.
In December 2021, it was reported that GoTo had hired banks to help it raise around US$1 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) in Indonesia.
In March 2022, GoTo announced that it would list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange the following month, expecting to issue 52 million shares, and raise at least US$1.1 billion from the IPO. The initial prospectus shows that the underwriters are Indo Premier, Mandiri Sekuritas, Trimegah Sekuritas, and CIMB Niaga Sekuritas. On 11 April 2022, GoTo is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange with a $1.1 billion IPO at a price of 338 IDR per share, climbing more than 15% to 388 IDR in the first day of trading.
As per October 2023, Gojek's founder Nadiem Makarim is not listed as one of the shareholder in any of GoTo's subsidiaries, which led to a speculation that he has sold all of his ownership in GoTo.
In early September 2023, a number of shop traders in Jakarta, specifically at Tanah Abang Market (the largest market in Indonesia, and in Southeast Asia) protested to Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, saying to close e-commerce, due to unfair competition and suspected a predatory pricing. The minister responded by saying that "It's not possible, yes e-commerce is regulated, but not to be closed. It's impossible to avoid digitalization". However, on 26 September 2023 the minister then issued Minister of Trade Regulation No. 31 of 2023, which affirm the regulation that social media permit issued by Indonesian government is not able to be used to operate e-commerce. The minister further said that TikTok's license to operate in the country is only for social media, not e-commerce.
To comply with the local regulations, starting October 2023, TikTok suspended their TikTok shop operation in Indonesia, while still continuing their social media operations. Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs further said that TikTok should establish a legal entity in Indonesia, and acquire a permit to operate e-commerce, in accordance to Minister of Trade Regulation No. 31 of 2023.
In December 2023, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance acquired 75% shares of Tokopedia, leaving only 25% shares owned by GoTo. Indonesia's Ministry of Trade said that TikTok may carry out business-to-business collaboration with Tokopedia, while still complying to the provisions No. 31 of 2023. After the acquisition, and using Tokopedia's e-commerce permit, TikTok is able to resume their TikTok Shop operations in Indonesia.
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Gojek is an on-demand multiservice platform that books drivers for transportation or for other services such as grocery deliveries. Services provided by Gojek includes:
Gojek has operations in Vietnam, previously known as GoViet, rebranded as "GET", then renamed as "Gojek". The services include GoRide, GoCar, GoFood, and GoSend. Meanwhile, Gojek's operation in Thailand has been acquired by AirAsia.
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Tokopedia is one of Indonesia's most popular online shopping portals, it has been reported as the most valuable tech business after Gojek itself. William Tanuwijaya was Tokopedia's CEO until February 2023 when he stepped down from the role. Melissa Siska Juminto is currently the President of GoTo's e-commerce division.
Bridestory (Bridestory Pte Ltd) is a wedding marketplace that connects prospective brides and grooms with wedding vendors. The company has a subsidiary named Parentstory (PT Cerita Bahagia), which is a marketplace offering products and activities for kids. Both companies were acquired by Tokopedia in June 2019, and cross-selling their products and services in their platforms.
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GoTo Financial covers services such as GoPay, GoSure, GoInvestasi, GoPayLater, Midtrans and Moka. Hans Patuwo is currently the President of GoTo's Financial Technology division.
Other than Tokopedia, that since December 2023 is controlled by TikTok's parent company, Bytedance, GoTo has several non-controlling strategic investments in various companies as follows:
Since 2020, Gojek through its subsidiary (PT Dompet Anak Bangsa / GoPay) acquired 22.16% shares of PT Bank Jago Tbk, a digital bank previously known as PT Bank Artos Indonesia, hence becoming the non-controlling strategic partner of the bank. In 2021, an initial integration enables GoPay customers to use their funds in Bank Jago's account for payment.