Indonesian ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek is reportedly ready to channel funds to two Indian startups; on-demand food startup Rebel Foods and the Mobile Premier League (MPL), a Bangalore-based e-sports startup, according to the Economic Times.
Rumors about Go-Jek’s investment in MPL had been around since last year. Go-Jek was said to be investing USD 30 million into MPL rough its venture capital arm, Go-Ventures.
According to the recent report, MPL will have a valuation of around USD 150 million if the deal goes through. In November 2018, MPL raised Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital, which is also invested in Go-Jek.
Go-Jek also plans to form a joint venture with Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen company that backs up a number of online restaurant brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani. Founded in 2004, the company has raised USD 15.8 million as part of its Series D funding, led by no other than Sequioa Capital India. Through the collaboration, Go-Jek plans to take the cloud kitchen expertise of Rebel Foods to the Southeast Asian market.
That could bring fresh wind to its food delivery business and the head-to-head battle it has with Grab in this domain.
Go-Jek had set up an engineering facility in Bangalore in 2016 and the company has acquired four Indian companies, including Pune-based mobile application developer Leftshift, Bangalore-based startup Pianta, C42 Engineering and CodeIgnition.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
