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WhatsApp, PayPal invest in Indonesian super app Gojek

WhatsApp Chief Operations Officer Matt Idema in a blog post said his company would work with Gojek "to support the growth of millions of small businesses".

By: REUTERS
Updated on: Jun 03 2020, 14:36 IST
Commuters pass by a Gojek advertisement in Singapore, March 4, 2019. (REUTERS)

Facebook Inc messaging platform WhatsApp and PayPal Holdings Inc on Wednesday said they have invested in payment, food delivery and ride-hailing app operator Gojek as part of the Indonesian firm's ongoing fundraising round.

WhatsApp and PayPal did not disclose the size of the investment or the stakes they would receive. A Gojek investor told Reuters the WhatsApp investment was "meaningful".

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WhatsApp Chief Operations Officer Matt Idema in a blog post said his company would work with Gojek "to support the growth of millions of small businesses".

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The move is likely to significantly strengthen WhatsApp's presence in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users. It comes just over a month since its $5.7 billion investment in the digital arm of India's Reliance Industries Ltd .

Reuters reported in April that Facebook was in talks with Gojek about an investment and was working with three e-wallet operators in Indonesia, including Gojek's GoPay, to launch mobile payment services in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Market head at PayPal International, Cameron McLean, in a statement said PayPal's "payment capabilities would be integrated into Gojek's services" and enable its users to use GoPay at PayPal merchants globally.

Gojek was founded in 2010 as a ride-hailing firm and has since evolved into a one-stop app through which users can make online payments and order food and services. It is active in four markets and owns an e-wallet startup in the Philippines.

Gojek in a statement said existing investors Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alphabet Inc's Google also joined the latest fundraising round, which people with direct knowledge of the matter said valued the firm at $10 billion.

The fundraising had reached $1.2 billion as of March, showed an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

Funding talks with Amazon.com Inc , have been dropped, as have talks for existing backer Meituan Dianping to take a much larger stake, the people said.

Gojek and Amazon declined to comment. Meituan Dianping did not respond to a request for comment.

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First Published Date: 03 Jun, 13:01 IST
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