Go-Jek’s investment arm, Go-Ventures, together with Sequoia India and Times Internet reportedly invested USD 35.5 million in Indian e-sport startup Mobile Premier League (MPL), according to
MPL has raised USD 40.5 million since it was founded in early 2018. Its Series A funding round announced in November last year came from Sequoia Capital, which is also invested in Go-Jek.
Although it is relatively new, MPL has grown rapidly with 25 million registered users across both Android and iOS. It’s a platform for mobile gamers, focused on casual gaming genres like arcade, adventure games, or sports. The startup collaborates with third-party developers and publishes the games on its platform.
This news confirmed a rumor that surfaced in December last year about Go-Jek’s intention to make its first financial investment in India.
Go-Jek has acquired four Indian companies, Leftshift, Pianta, C42 Engineering, and CodeIgnition, but these were strategic acquisitions intended to boost Go-Jek’s tech stack. Go-Jek established a presence in India in 2016, with an engineering facility in Bangalore.
Go-Jek will likely continue to strengthen its business in India. Besides MPL, the ride-hailing unicorn is also reportedly in talks to form a joint venture with Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen company that backs up several online restaurant brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani. Go-Jek plans to take the cloud kitchen expertise of Rebel Foods to the Southeast Asian market once the partnership officially established.
In its home market Southeast Asia, Go-Jek is making its own foray into e-sports. It sponsors gaming competitions and has hired a person to build out an e-sports division last year.