Gojek riders wait for their delivery orders at a distribution centre in Surabaya, Indonesia on May 17, 2021.
Juni Kriswanto | AFP | Getty Images
Indonesia’s GoTo Group has secured $1.3 billion from investors in the first close of an ongoing funding round ahead of a planned initial public offering, the technology company said Thursday.
Backers in the pre-IPO funding round include tech titans like Google and Tencent, Singapore state investor Temasek, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad as well as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The company was created in May from a merger between Indonesia’s internet start-ups Gojek and Tokopedia. Its business spans across ride-hailing, financial services and e-commerce.
GoTo Group said it expects more investors to join the pre-IPO funding round ahead of its final close in the coming weeks. The fresh funds would be invested into growing the customer base and expanding payments and financial services products, according to the company.
Last month, GoTo Group said it reached an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority where the sovereign wealth fund would lead the tech company’s pre-IPO fundraising with a $400 million investment.
Earlier reports suggested that GoTo Group could seek a public market valuation target of between $35 billion to $40 billion. In August, Reuters reported that regulatory delays could push the tech company’s listing plans to early 2022.
GoTo Group did not disclose details of its IPO plans in Thursday’s announcement.
“Indonesia and Southeast Asia are some of the most exciting growth markets in the world, and the backing we’ve secured shows the confidence that investors have in the region’s rapidly expanding digital economy and our market-leading position,” Andre Soelistyo, CEO of GoTo Group, said in a statement.
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the demand for online services across the globe. Indonesia’s internet economy is predicted to have grown by 75% from $40 billion in 2019 to around $70 billion this year, according to a report this week from Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.
Tech companies like GoTo Group found pockets of growth in areas like e-commerce, food and grocery delivery as well as logistics.
