Echelon

The battle for the “Super App” throne in Southeast Asia continues as neither Grab now Gojek, leading tech startups, show plans of slowing down their expansions. The two ride-hailing companies seemed to have found the key to the enormous potential of Southeast Asia’s technology market composed of young and tech-savvy populations. While they have a similar end goal of driving millions of users to dig into their mobile wallets, they have taken different paths to scale.

Grab: Regional target from the get-go

Grab set its sights on Southeast Asia from the very beginning in a bid to address transportation problems in tier 1 cities across the region. Like other startups, Grab took a growth-at-all-costs approach until it reached a value of $14 billion, signalling a switch to a more strategic model. It chose the route to partnerships with other startups, including HappyFresh, Ninja Van, and Hooq.

Also read: Echelon 2022: The rise of a new startup profitability culture

Gojek: There’s no place like home

Gojek focused on its roots in Indonesia before gradually taking hold of other regional countries. It was the first company in the country to utilize motorcycle taxis for personal transportation and deliveries using an app before adding cars and taxis to the menu. By prioritizing the local market, Gojek built a solid loyal customer base, making it the most-used app in the ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital payment segments among Indonesian millennials.

The path forward

One thing to learn from Grab and Gojek is that there is no single way to get to where you want to be. But what makes more sense for startups moving forward? Do Southeast Asia startups have to think regional from day 1? How does regional talent scaling work? What are the pricing, business models, technology, and language considerations when scaling? Which companies have scaled well regionally? What are the critical mistakes when expanding regionally, and how can they be rectified?

Also read: The Big Leap: Bringing retention best practices across SEA

Such questions are best discussed at the Echelon Asia Summit 2022. Klaus Wehage, Co-Founder and CEO of 10x Innovation Lab, will moderate a panel discussion on “Grab vs Gojek model – How should you scale your startup across the region” with founders Jennifer Zhang (Wiz Holdings), Hendra Kwik (Fazz Financial), Ram N Kumar (NirogStreet), and Vincent Fan (Zeek).

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Echelon Asia Summit 2022 (October 27-28) returns after a three-year hiatus. It aims to gather the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

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