Gojek’s on-demand video platform GoPlay has raised its first independent funding round led by ZWC Partners and Golden Gate Ventures, the company announced on Monday. Other investors participating were Openspace Ventures, Ideosource Entertainment, and Redbadge Pacific.
GoPlay said that it will use the fresh capital to enhance its tech capabilities, which will enable more filmmakers to showcase their content on the platform, fulfilling the growing demand from Indonesian audiences for local quality content.
Launched in September 2019, GoPlay is an over-the-top (OTT) movie platform for the growing entertainment demand of Indonesia’s mobile-first consumers. The firm believes that local content provides a huge potential that is not being addressed by commercial movie theaters.
“We are proud that investors see value in what GoPlay is trying to achieve. We have been working hard to establish and fine-tune GoPlay’s technology and offering over the past year and the time is now right to bring in partners with deep industry expertise to spur our growth,” GoPlay CEO Edy Sulistyo said in a statement.
Nonetheless, GoPlay said that it will remain a part of the super-app ecosystem as Gojek still holds the majority of GoPlay shares, the statement said. That being said, GoPlay needs the support of partners who have expertise in specific areas and its new investors are expected to strengthen GoPlay’s offerings and help to take its growth to the next level, which is the reason behind this separate investment.
ZWC Partners founding and managing partner Patrick Cheungsaid in a statement that the firm is very optimistic with the potential of Indonesia’s fast-growing online entertainment sector. He believes that ZWC’s experience in the media and tech sector, combined with GoPlay’s localization strategy and Gojek’s tech ecosystem will help accelerate the growth of the on-demand video platform.
“We are happy to join hands with both Gojek and Edy’s team in the building of this great service. COVID-19 has accelerated the changes in the way businesses and consumers operate and technology like GoPlay will play an important role in reshaping Southeast Asia’s entertainment industry in the ‘new normal’ post-pandemic,” said Cheung.
Indonesia’s crowded OTT space
Indonesia is a competitive landscape for OTT platforms with players like Netflix, HBO Go, Malaysia’s iFlix, and Indonesia’s Vidio. Unlike its global and regional competitors that offer a big portion of international content, GoPlay chose to focus on locally produced movies and shows including its own GoPlay Originals.
The firm will stand by this commitment, although it doesn’t rule out the possibility to produce and license non-Indonesian content. Its library currently includes tens of thousands of hours of content, and GoPlay is utilizing AI and user data for personalization. GoPlay also recently launched a feature called Cast which allows viewers to watch shows on a TV screen at home.
In a recent interview with KrASIA, Sulistyo said that GoPlay aims at a revenue-sharing model with content creators and production houses, for both GoPlay original movies and other local movies. GoPlay further said it supports content creators by providing script doctors to improve their storytelling or by finding sponsorship and investors for them.