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GoTo, Indonesia’s onetime tech darling, banks on fintech for its second wind

Mon Jun 16, 2025
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Lionel Lim

11 min read

The Southeast Asian super apps GoTo and Grab have a lot in common. Both started in the early 2010s to fill a hole in the on-demand, private-hire transport and delivery service sector before moving toward the idea of a super app (much like what is seen in China), later adjusting their strategies to streamline offerings.

Now, after a decade or so, Grab (No. 128 on the Fortune Southeast Asia 500) has arguably risen to the top. The firm’s on-demand services are available in eight of Southeast Asia’s 11 countries, while GoTo’s on-demand arm, Gojek, is lagging in the sector’s market share and has exited all Southeast Asia markets for on-demand services save for Singapore and its home market, Indonesia. But GoTo (No. 266) remains formidable in Indonesia, the region’s largest market—so much so that the rumor mill is spinning with talk of Grab seeking to buy some, or nearly all, of its chief competitor.

Grab has denied reports of acquisition talks. And even if GoTo were to agree to sell its on-demand services to Grab, the deal would likely need to be cleared by regulators in Singapore and Indonesia. Still, the very fact that the topic has drawn so much attention signals a recognition that GoTo has lost the on-demand sector battle. Instead, the company is making a big bet on fintech to drive future growth.

With “G” names, green branding, and ride-hailing roots, Grab and GoTo have long been locked in rivalry. Grab’s ascendance to a position in which it can snap up slices of GoTo’s business can be traced back to how the two companies diverged from their early days, eventually leading to Grab’s regional expansion and GoTo’s regional retreat to focus almost entirely on its home market.

Grab, established in 2012 as MyTeksi in Malaysia, moved quickly to expand into other Southeast Asian countries: It entered the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand in 2013, and Vietnam and Indonesia a year later. GoTo, founded in 2010 as Gojek in Indonesia, didn’t expand into Vietnam until 2018, entering Singapore and Thailand the following year.

But it made commercial sense for Gojek to entrench itself in its home turf first, says Daniel Seah, an assistant professor of law at Singapore Management University, whose research areas focus on technology. “The size of the Indonesia market is the bee’s knees within Southeast Asia,” he adds. “Over 50% of the population is under 30 years old, and it has one of the highest mobile and internet penetrations within the region.”

In 2018, Grab acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, a move that, one expert says, “strengthened its regional dominance.” It would play a role in Grab’s horizontal expansion.

In 2018, Grab acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, a move that, one expert says, “strengthened its regional dominance.” It would play a role in Grab’s horizontal expansion.

Whereas Grab focused on “horizontal expansion,” involving strategic acquisitions and fintech infrastructure, Seah explains, GoTo focused on “vertical depth” in Indonesia’s market. Fortune Asia’s executive editor Clay Chandler chronicled the battle between the rivals in 2019, with a similar finding: Grab preferred partnerships and joint ventures that allowed it to reach more markets faster, while Gojek opted for partnerships through acquisition that enabled tighter control of its home market.