Get full access to one story every week, and to summaries of all other stories. Just create a free account

In 2016, a covert meeting took place in Jakarta, Indonesia. Go-Jek CEO Nadiem Makarim, Grab CEO Anthony Tan and one of then-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s highest-ranking lieutenants in Southeast Asia convened to divide Indonesia’s mobility pie amongst themselves. The country was understandably high-priority for all three companies—it’s Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with a population of 260 million.

At the time, local taxi groups were violently protesting the rise of ride-hailing platforms, which they believed were ruining their livelihood. In crisis, it was time to pull together. It helped that Makarim and Tan were on good terms, having known each other from their student days in Harvard, and, indeed, the meeting was fruitful. It ended with a toast to a new affiliation. 

At the time, each company was focused on a single vertical, so they decided to divide and conquer. Uber would go after private cars, Go-Jek—headquartered in Indonesia—would focus on the country’s omnipresent two-wheeled motorbike taxis (ojeks), leaving Grab to concentrate on the licensed taxi business. 

Fast forward to 2019, and an alliance of any kind couldn’t be further from reality.

Uber left Southeast Asia last year—trading its staff and assets to Grab in exchange for a 27.5% stake in the Singapore-based company. Grab and Go-Jek, meanwhile, have grown to be bitter rivals, with Tan and Makarim’s friendship a casualty of competition. 

Today, both aim to be Southeast Asia’s go-to super app—a much-hyped buzzword for apps that cover a multitude of consumers’ daily needs. Indeed, both companies offer bike taxis, licensed taxis, private cars, a mobile wallet, grocery shopping, and a bevvy of on-demand services ranging from massages to haircuts. And they compete on every one of these fronts.

With Southeast Asia’s digital economy set to triple to reach $240 billion over the next seven years, according to a report co-authored by Google, Go-Jek has expanded to take on Grab in Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore as well. All over the past 12 months, although no expansion boasts the full suite of services that Go-Jek offers in Indonesia, yet.

The platform approach, coupled with the potential of the Southeast Asia market, has seen billions of dollars of capital poured into Grab and Go-Jek. Today, Go-Jek is closing in on a $10 billion valuation. Grab, meanwhile, is valued at $14 billion. Grab’s ongoing Series H round is forecast to close with a total of $6.5 billion raised. Go-Jek, on the other hand, is raising a Series F that, initially aimed at $2 billion, has reportedly been enlarged to $3 billion. 

With funding comes a new angle to the face-off between the two—Grab and Go-Jek have become proxies for their deep-pocketed investors.

 “Grab is backed by SoftBank—so close to Alibaba—while Go-Jek’s investors include Tencent and JD.com.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

View Full Profile

Read this story. Subscribe Now

This story is available across both editions. Subscribe to the one that’s most relevant for you. Questions?

 

Premium

  • 5 original and reported longform business stories every week
  • Access to ONLY India edition
  • Close to 250 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories
  • Pick up to 5 premium subscriber newsletters
  • 4 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to ONLY Southeast Asia edition
  • Close to 200 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to all paywalled stories since March 2020
  • Pick up to 5 premium subscriber newsletters

Rs. 2,750 /year

$ 120 /year

India Edition
Subscribe Subscribe
Most Asked For

Borderless

  • 8 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to both India and Southeast Asia editions
  • Close to 400 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories across India and Southeast Asia
  • Unlimited access to all premium subscriber newsletters
  • Visual Stories

Rs. 4,200 /year

Subscribe
 

Echelon

  • 8 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to both India and Southeast Asia editions
  • Close to 400 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories across India and Southeast Asia
  • Unlimited access to all premium subscriber newsletters
  • Visual Stories
  • Bonus annual gift subscription
  • Priority access to all new products and features

Rs. 8,474 /year

Subscribe
Or

Questions?

What kind of subscription plans do you offer?

We have three types of subscriptions
- Premium which gives you access to either the India or the Southeast Asia edition.
- Borderless which gives you complete access to The Ken across both editions
- Echelon which gives you complete access to The Ken across both editions along with a bonus gift subscription

What do I get if I subscribe?

The Premium edition gives you access to stories in that edition along with any five subscriber-only newsletters of your choice.

The Borderless and Echelon subscription gives you complete access to The Ken across editions and unlimited access to as many newsletters as you like.

What topics do you usually write about?

We publish sharp, original and reported stories on technology, business and healthcare. Our stories are forward-looking, analytical and directional — supported by data, visualisations and infographics. We use language and narrative that is accessible to even lay readers. And we optimise for quality over quantity, every single time.

Our specialised subscriber-only newsletters are written by our expert, award-winning journalists and cover a range of topics across finance, retail, clean energy, cryptocurrency, ed-tech and many more.

How many newsletters do you have?

We are constantly adding specialised subscriber-only newsletters all the time. All of these are written by our team of award-winning journalists on a specialised topic.

You can see the list of newsletters that we publish over here.

Does a Premium subscription to your Indian edition get me access to the Southeast Asia edition? Or vice-versa?

Afraid not. Each edition is separate with its own subscription plan. The India edition publishes stories focused on India. The Southeast Asia edition is focused on Southeast Asia. We may occasionally cross-publish stories from one edition to the other.

We recommend the Borderless or the Echelon Plan which will give you access to stories across both editions.

Do you have a mobile app?

Yes! We have a top-rated mobile app on both iOS and Android which allows you to read on-the-go and has some amazing features like the ability to bookmark stories, save on your device, dark mode, and much more. It’s really the best way to read The Ken.

Is there a free trial?

You can sign up for a free account to experience The Ken and understand our products better. We’ll send you some free stories and newsletters occasionally, and you can access our archive of previously published free stories. You can stay on the free account as long as you’d like.

The vast majority of our stories, articles and newsletters can be accessed only by a paid subscription.

Do you offer any discounts?

Sorry, no. Our journalism is funded completely by our subscribers. We believe that quality journalism comes at a price, and readers trust and pay us so that we can remain independent.

Do you offer refunds?

No. We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am facing some trouble purchasing a subscription. What can I do?

Just write to us at [email protected] with details. We’ll help you out.

I have a few more questions. How can I reach out to you?

Sure. Just email us at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter.