Indonesia-based O2O player Go-Jek is doubling down on its digital content strategy by backing Indonesian online hybrid site Kumparan via its investment arm Go-Ventures. The investment amount remains undisclosed.
Founded in 2016, Kumparan is an online platform that hosts both news from media firms and content posts generated by social media users. It is the brainchild of the entrepreneurs behind Indonesian online news outlet Detik.com — Budiono Darsono, Abdul Rahman, and Calvin Lukmantara — which was acquired in 2011. It had previously raised capital from GDP Venture, the investment arm of local conglomerate Djarum Group.
Content is a big sector for Go-Jek, which had its roots in ride-hailing but has since explored other verticals from food delivery to payments. The Indonesian unicorn has plans to expand its presence in original content production through its video subscription service Go-Play and film company Go-Studios, which will specialise in exclusive titles primarily focused on Indonesia.
Go-Jek also runs a news feed, where it showcases the most popular news, reviews of its services, and ‘fun’ features like polls and predictions. The ride-hailing firm has already integrated Kumparan’s content channels with its app interface, according to Daily Social in April.
Go-Jek’s main competitor in the region is Singapore-headquartered Grab, whose app shows ‘daily deals’, ‘daily news’ and ‘personality quizzes’, among others, via one screen.
Takeaways:
– Go-Jek is investing more on curating and creating more exclusive content. This can be seen through its setting up of Go-Studios, which boasts US-based media firm VICE as a partner, and its latest investment in Kumparan. Having more Indonesia-focused content on board will help Go-Jek get more users to spend more time using it.
– Maintaining synergy between verticals, the company is able to use one service to help it in another; for example, its online movie ticket booking service GoTix might go on to help it with its Go-Studios arm. Alibaba has done this through Alibaba Pictures and its movie booking platform Tao Piao Piao.
– Moreover, the more services and areas it covers, the more data it will sit on. For businesses and investors looking to get insights on the seemingly impenetrable Indonesian market, data is a rare commodity.
Editor: Ben Jiang