Gojek
Gojek was started by Nadiem Makarim in 2010 as a call center and 20 ojeks (motorcycle taxi) to arrange transportation and courier deliveries.[10] In 2015, Gojek started an app which boosted the orders from 3,000 to 10,000 orders per day, and expanded the services including food delivery, ticket sales, etc.[10] In 2017, Gojek become Indonesia's first unicorn startup, with orders up to 300,000 per day.[10]
In 2017, Gojek is one of Fortune's change the world list. Listed as 17th, Gojek outperformed tech company giants such as Microsoft, Accenture, and Airbnb.[11] Companies that outperformed Gojek in the list include Apple, Tencent.[11] In 2019, Gojek is also included as the 11th in the list, the only Southeast Asian companies included in the list.[12][13] In 2022, GoTo received the same awards, the highest ranking of any Southeast Asian companies, which include Sea Ltd (parent company of Shopee), and Bukalapak.[14]
In 2019, the founder Nadiem Makarim left the company to become the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Indonesia.[15]
Tokopedia
Tokopedia was founded by William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison in 2009, and received funding from Indonusa Dwitama in the same year.[16] In the following years, Tokopedia received another funding from global venture capitalists such as East Ventures in 2010, Cyber Agent Ventures in 2011, Netprice in 2012, and Softbank Ventures Korea in 2013.[16] In 2014, Tokopedia is the first technology company in Southeast Asia to receive US$100 million, received from Sequoia Capital and Softbank Internet and Media Inc.[16]
In August 2017, Tokopedia received an investment of US$1.1 billion from Alibaba.[16] In the same year, Tokopedia reached a Unicorn status.[17]
Merger
Relationship between Gojek and Tokopedia started in a 2015 partnership, where Gojek drivers provide same-day deliveries for Tokopedia products during off-peak riding hours.[19]
In early 2021, there was a rumor of a merger between Gojek and its Singaporean competitor, Grab.[20] Then, discussions for a merger between Gojek and Tokopedia were accelerated after talks on an agreement between Gojek and Grab Holding Inc reached an impasse.[20]
On 17 May 2021, both Gojek and Tokopedia announced their intention to merger,[21] choosing the name "GoTo" as the abbreviation of Gojek and Tokopedia, and also abbreviation of gotong-royong,[22] a Javanese ethos meaning "working together".[23]
Initial public offering
In December 2021, it was reported that GoTo had hired banks to help it raise around US$1 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) in Indonesia.[26]
In March 2022, GoTo announced that it would list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange the following month, expecting to issue 52 million shares, and raise at least US$1.1 billion from the IPO.[27] The initial prospectus shows that the underwriters are Indo Premier, Mandiri Sekuritas, Trimegah Sekuritas, and CIMB Niaga Sekuritas. On 11 April 2022, GoTo is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange with a $1.1 billion IPO at a price of 338 IDR per share, climbing more than 15% to 388 IDR in the first day of trading.[28]
As per October 2023, Gojek's founder Nadiem Makarim is not listed as one of the shareholder in any of GoTo's subsidiaries, which led to a speculation that he has sold all of his ownership in GoTo.[29]
TikTok acquisition of Tokopedia
In early September 2023, a number of shop traders in Jakarta, specifically at Tanah Abang Market (the largest market in Indonesia,[30] and in Southeast Asia[31]) protested to Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, saying to close e-commerce, due to unfair competition[32] and suspected a predatory pricing.[33] The minister responded by saying that "It's not possible, yes e-commerce is regulated, but not to be closed. It's impossible to avoid digitalization".[34] However, on 26 September 2023 the minister then issued Minister of Trade Regulation No. 31 of 2023,[35]