By
Temitope Olatunji
March 28th, 2024
The GoTo Group funding round drew participation from several notable companies ahead of its scheduled initial public offering.
GoTo Group, an Indonesian holding company, recently announced that it secured $1.3 billion from investors in the first close of its pre-IPO funding round. The company’s pre-IPO funding round was led by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, through a wholly-owned subsidiary. The sovereign wealth fund invested $400 million into GoTo Group.
Other participants included American tech giant Google, Chinese multinational tech conglomerate Tencent (HKG: 0700), and Temasek, a state-owned Singaporean holding firm. Furthermore, there was Permodalan Nasional Berhad, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, Avanda Investment Management, Fidelity International, Primavera Capital, and Ward Ferry.
Created in May 2021 as a merger between Indonesian internet startups Gojek and Tokopedia, the GoTo Group already has plans for fresh funding. These include growing the company’s customer base in addition to increasing payments and financial services products. Currently, GoTo Group has business interests in ride-hailing, financial services, food and grocery delivery, logistics, financial service industries, and e-commerce.
GoTo Group declined to comment on its current valuation. However, the company looks to welcome more investors onboard its pre-IPO funding round as it winds to a close in the coming weeks. According to media reports, GoTo Group could seek a public market valuation of between $29.5 billion and $30 billion. Furthermore, the tech company might push its listing agenda to early next year due to regulatory delays. The group is now eyeing a dual listing in New York and Jakarta.
GoTo Group Is One of the Most Prominent Tech Companies in Indonesia
GoTo Group is Indonesia’s largest and most valuable tech company and contributes about 2% of the country’s $1 trillion GDP. The company alleges that it handled more than 1.8 billion transactions last year, with a gross value over $22 billion. In addition, GoTo Group stated that it expects to consolidate on this position even further. This is due to the opportunities presented by the Indonesian market and also that of Southeast Asia. Andre Soelistyo, CEO of GoTo Group, summed this up in a statement that read:
“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.”
Soelistyo further stated that the emergence of new users online leads to digital adoption growth. This growth in digital adoption would also drive up consumer demand.
Michael Woo, managing director of Primavera Capital Group, one of the fund’s investors, also weighed on the potential available. He said:
“We foresee secular growth opportunities for Indonesia and GoTo across e-commerce, on-demand mobility and fintech – all segments in which Primavera has extensive investment experience.”
Woo expressed enthusiasm at partnering with GoTo Group on this initiative. In addition, he pledged to provide as much resources and expertise to the cause as possible.
The pandemic expedited the demand for online services worldwide. Estimates put Indonesia’s internet economy growth at 75% from $40 billion. This is a $30 billion growth from 2019 to date.
