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Nadiem Makarim "Gojek" Named as Straits Times' Asian of the Year

Nadiem Makarim "Gojek" Named as Straits Times' Asian of the Year
Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim © Astra Life

When Mr Nadiem Makarim returned to Jakarta after graduating from Harvard in 2011, he took motorcycle-taxis to get around the city but found them unreliable.

Still, Indonesia's biggest headaches - inadequate infrastructure and massive traffic jams - turned out to be big opportunities for him.

The 32-year-old, who has a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, was born in Singapore. He has had a hand in several tech firms, including online retailer Zalora Indonesia, where he was managing director.

 

Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim wants to focus his business on Indonesia first. Image: Bloomberg News
Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim wants to focus his business on Indonesia first. Image: Bloomberg News

He had the idea of creating his own network of "ojeks" - as these two-wheeled cabs are known locally - and allowing commuters to book them with a smartphone app. With borrowed money as well as his own savings totalling US$100,000 (S$142,000), he launched the Go-Jek ride-hailing app in January last year with a pool of 700 motorbike riders.

In barely two years, the start-up is already going places, valued at more than US$1.4 billion and boasting the country's largest network of motorcycle-taxis, with more than 250,000 riders in 15 cities.

GoJek Drivers. Image: GoJek
GoJek Drivers. Image: GoJek

To go one up over direct rivals Uber and Grab, which also operate motorbike cabs, it has tied up with more than 35,000 food merchants and 2,500 service providers to provide delivery services for food, groceries and even medicine.

Go-Jek has "evolved into a much bigger animal", said Mr Nadiem, the company's founder and chief executive."Go-Jek is a perfect fit for Indonesia."


Source : Straits Times

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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