Bike Taxis India To Get A Boost With Indonesian Startup Entering The Market

India’s currently nascent two-wheeler taxi market might soon see a major boost with Indonesia-based Go-Jek reportedly looking to make inroads into the sector, reports Inc42. After American ride-sharing major Uber, this would be the second instance of a foreign player in the bike taxi scene. Several local operators have already made forays into the scene such as Ola, Rapido, Hey Taxi and more.

Bike-taxis in India, although in existence since the 1980s in Goa, have not taken off due to strict regulations in place.

Go-Jek, however already has a presence in India, though not directly in the transport sector. In early 2016, the Indonesian hyperlocal transport app acquired two software firms – Bengaluru-based C-42 Engineering and Noida-based CodeIgnition – before acquiring Bengaluru-based Pianta, a healthcare startup. It finally acquired a Pune-based app developer LeftShift in the same year.

Founded in 2011, Go-Jek began as a bike taxi service before expanding rapidly into other verticals such as food and grocery deliveries. In late 2017, it completed its third round of funding, raising $1.2 billion from China’s Tencent Holdings.

Go-Jek’s entry into India’s yet-to-be-tapped bike taxi market might send incumbent players on a run due to stiff competition.

Also Read: Navigating On Two Wheels: How Bike Sharing Can Ease Congestion In Cities