Go-Jek’s Possible IPO Would Be Key Moment For Ridesharing

Morning Report: The heavily-funding Indonesian ridesharing company Go-Jek is making noise about going public. What does that mean for its sector?

According to everyone this morning, Go-Jek is looking to go public. The Indonesian ride-hailing firm appears to be targeting exchanges in its home country for the initial public offering. Given that Indonesia is separated by a hemisphere-spanning ocean and at least a dozen hour time difference, the listing will likely make less of a splash in the US than the importance of the event might otherwise merit.

The IPO would be a big deal for a massively-funded, deeply unprofitable sector torn between paying drivers today, and powering autonomous cars in the future.

The Uber competitor raised over $1 billion earlier this year in a round powered by a few names that you have likely heard of: Tencent, Google, and JD.com, among others. That puts huge friends in its pocket, and, even an investor in one of its global competitors.

But, news that Go-Jek is quite keen on a public offering aside, when such a flotation might occur is hard to parse. According to Bloomberg, there is “no specific timeframe” according to the firm’s CEO. So, this is a bit of hand-waving in the direction of an IPO and nothing more for the moment.

But it was news when Uber’s new CEO announced that he intended to take his company public at all. What makes Go-Jek’s words all the more interesting is that they happened now, which, given Uber’s long-ish IPO schedule may mean that the smaller company can go first.

That would throw a wrench into things. It’s often discussed in Silicon Valley what will happen to Uber if Lyft goes public first, potentially throwing some revenue multiples up in the air that the larger player doesn’t want to catch.

And, for all these companies, profitability remains a key concern. Still, Go-Jek is motioning towards maturity with this IPO talk. And especially so if it’s more than just that.

From The Crunchbase Daily:

Go-Jek eyes IPO

• Southeast Asian ride-hailing provider Go-Jek is exploring an IPO on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The potential offering follows a reported $1.2 billion fundraise earlier this year at a valuation above $3 billion.

IOT funding trending up

• Venture capital funding into U.S.-based Internet of Things startups reached its highest annual mark last year as investors poured $1.46 billion into the space, according to Crunchbase data.

AI startup scene shows signs of maturing

• Investment in U.S. AI and machine learning startups still looks to be on the rise as well. However, 2017 was the first year in a decade with a year-over-year decline in seed-stage deals, as capital is increasingly concentrating at later stages.

UiPath raising $120M at $1B+ valuation

• UiPath, a Romanian startup that builds software for enterprises to help automate legacy and back-office functions, has reportedly raised a Series B funding round of around $120 million at a valuation of over $1 billion.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias