Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based ride-sharing company valued at $5 billion, has begun its ambitious plan to increase its rivalry with Grab by expanding into three new markets after it opened shop in Vietnam.
The service — which is known as Go-Viet — covers an initial 12 districts in Ho Chi Minh City with a motorbike on-demand service. Rival Grab is in 39 cities in Vietnam and its services include motorbikes, taxis, private cars and food delivery.
The Vietnam launch is August 1 as TechCrunch reported in June. The plan is to then expand into Thailand in September, and the Philippines before the end of this year. Singapore remains a market that Go-Jek would like to enter — it has held partnership talks with taxi operator ComfortDelGro — but it remains unclear whether, and when, that might happen.
GO-VIET will be live on August 1st in the Apple App Store & Google Play. 🖖
We're expanding to 12 districts across Ho Chi Minh City 🇻🇳 and this will be GO-JEK’s first international operations outside of Indonesia. pic.twitter.com/xMrRRTc29w
— Gojek Tech (@gojektech) July 31, 2018
Disrupt 2026: The tech ecosystem, all in one room
Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $400.
Save up to $300 or 30% to TechCrunch Founder Summit
1,000+ founders and investors come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately
Offer ends March 13.
Go-Jek expansion plan will put some heat on Grab, which has occupied a near-dominant position across Southeast Asia since it acquired Uber’s local business back in March.
Unlike Grab, though, Go-Jek is taking an individual approach in each of its countries. Not only will it use a different name in each country — in Thailand it will be called “Get” — it has hired local ‘founder’ teams who will be responsible for service offerings and other local business aspects. It isn’t clear how closely they will work with the core Go-Jek team in Indonesia.
That may mean anyone traveling between countries will need to download local Go-Jek apps, which is in contrast to Grab, which offers a universal app for eight countries in Southeast Asia although the services offered do differ locally. Grab recently introduced a new design for its app, aimed at showcasing its full set of services beyond simply ride-sharing.
Valued at $10 billion, Grab has raised over $5 billion from investors, including its most recent $1 billion investment from Toyota. Go-Jek has pulled in just over $2 billion. Tencent, Google, Meituan and others participated in its most recent (estimated) $1.4 billion raise which closed earlier this year.
Note: The original version of this article was updated to reflect that Grab claims to be present in 39 cities in Vietnam despite listing five on its website.
