Go-Jek raises $920 million as a first leg towards its $2 billion goal

The ride-hailing industry keeps getting more and more interesting, with venture capitalists and investors pouring hundreds of millions into budding companies in this market. It all started with Uber in California and spread all across the globe, with China, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia having their own companies that rival Uber’s market dominance. Every one of these companies has successfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars, for multi-billion dollar evaluations.

Go-Jek, the Indonesian startup had announced intentions for a $2 billion round of investment that would be raised in parts. It is Indonesia’s first unicorn and managed to raise a whopping $920 million chunk of the targeted $2 billion from some of the existing investors. These are some of the largest names in tech investments and they include Google, JD.com as well as Tencent.  The actual deal is said to happen sometime next week. Go-Jek has raised $2 billion to date and the new influx of cash next week will take its valuation to $9.5 billion.

The ride-hailing market in South East Asia has been hotly contested, after Grab, Go-Jek’s rival made a deal with Uber that saw the Californian giant exit the south Asian market entirely. The biggest names in venture capitalism have been backing both the companies. Ride-hailing in South East Asia is said to grow to become a $30 billion market in the next 5 years approximately and everyone is vying for a piece of it.