Indonesia’s massively popular ride-hailing start-up Go-Jek is expanding abroad.

It will invest about $500 million to move into four new markets in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines over the next several months, the company said in a Thursday announcement.

Initially, Go-Jek will start with ride-hailing before introducing additional services.

Go-Jek started off as a motorbike ride-hailing company and then moved into things like food delivery, groceries and payments. Last year, Go-Jek said it bought three financial technology, or fintech, companies to boost its presence in Indonesia’s digital payments sector. .

The company’s services are used in 50 cities across Indonesia and it is backed by well-known investors like Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Chinese tech giant Tencent.

Expansion into the new markets will step up the rivalry between Go-Jek and Singapore-based company Grab, which has similar services such as ride-hailing, digital payments and food delivery.

The two start-ups already compete in Indonesia, where Grab is trying to establish a stronghold.

Earlier this year, Google invested in Go-Jek and said the move was in line with the tech giant’s ambition to grow Indonesia’s digital economy and start-up scene. But Google did not disclose the amount it invested in Go-Jek.

Go-Jek raised about $1.5 billion in a fundraising round in February, exceeding its initial target of $1.2 billion, Reuters reported. The start-up is currently valued at $5 billion, according to private financial market database PitchBook.

Source: cnbc china
Indonesia's ride-hailing firm Go-Jek to invest 0 million in four new markets