A Southeast Asian Unicorn Aims to Create an Industrial Bridge Between India and IndonesiaBike- sharing app Go-Jek has now launched an engineering facility in Bangalore that will also serve as its headquarters in India

BySneha Banerjee

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

GO-Jek website

公司开始在我里面一个小车库ndonesia has today taken leaps to claim the title of being a "Unicorn" in Southeast Asia. Bike- sharing app Go-Jek has now launched an engineering facility in Bangalore that will also serve as its headquarters in India. The facility is expected to become the training centre for hundreds of engineers, both from Indian and Indonesia.

FounderNadiem Makarim, who strongly believes in the fact that "when traffic stops, life can't,' said that his company has created the first industrial bridge between Indonesia and India.

Makarim's GoJek, which has already bought Pune-based mobile app developer for an undisclosed amount, said it's open to "acquiring talent' both via acquisitions and hiring. Leftshift, which has now moved to GoJek's Bangalore engineering centre, is known for designing and engineering mobile applications for marquee Indian startups like BookMyShow and Walnut.

Makarim did not give the exact details of the number of people his company plans to onboard in India, but said that they are particularly interested in people who "fit the bill." In the near future the company is keen on expanding into in India but has no such plans in the near future.

Hiring in India

GO-Jek has more than 25 million app downloads and its platform powers Indonesian equivalents of Ola, Paytm, Swiggy, Grofers, Zomato and UrbanClap and a comparable scale. Its GO-FOOD business alone does more daily orders than all Indian food-tech startups combined, the company said.

Speaking on the recruitment process in India, Piotr Jakubowski, Chief of Marketing at Go-Jek, said that the biggest challenge while hiring remains the fact that it's a product that does not exist in the country.

Go-Jek's announcement gives reasons for the Bangalore to cheer as the Silicon-Valley of India is reeling under the loss of R&D jobs at India units ofTwitterandEbay. Both these centres have seen jobs being lost due to restructuring at the companies' global headquarters.

In August 2016, Go-Jek scooped over $550 million in a new round of funding led by KKR and Warburg Pincus LLC, the largest ever for an Indonesian technology startup. The company is also backed by Sequoia Capital, KKR and DST Global.

Wavy Line
Sneha Banerjee

Entrepreneur Staff

Former Staff, Entrepreneur India

She used to write for Entrepreneur India from Bangalore and other cities in South India.

Related Topics

Finance

A Founder-First VC Firm That Likes Bold Ideas

BEENEXT's funding prospects for the coming year are optimistic as it continues to identify promising founders and their ground-breaking startup ideas.

Leadership

The Power of Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship — How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing the World

Social entrepreneurs are the torchbearers of hope and progress, redefining the role of business in society.

Business News

Steve Jobs's Son Is Diving Into Venture Capital — and His Focus Hits Close to Home

Reed Jobs, 31, launched venture capital firm Yosemite, which already boasts $200 million from investors and institutions.

Growing a Business

Why Being Profitable is a Business Strategy in Itself

Profitability is a part of the strategic effort to be a hyper-growth, customer-centric and commercially-minded organization. And yes, it's a strategy.

Marketing

This Industry Is Making More Money Than Hollywood and the Music Industry Combined — Here's How Your Business Can Get Involved

With mobile gaming revolutionizing product placement and brand awareness, one surprising demographic is leading the charge.

News and Trends

Mondelez CoLab Acc印度选择五个创业公司elerator Program

As per an official statement, the startups were handpicked from a competitive pool of over 250 applications across categories like baked snacks, chocolates, confectionery, and savory snacks from all corners of India