Slowly but surely, we now have even more options to get around Singapore in a private car than we previously did; even before Uber made its dramatic exit.
Entering the fray, after months of speculation, is ride-hailing app Go-Jek, which started out offering rides on motorcycle taxis in 2010 in Indonesia. They’ve also had a quiet presence in Singapore in the form of a data science office since 2017; an indication that launching in Singapore was definitely in the pipeline.
It really was just a matter of time—they’ve confirmed that they’ll be pumping in $500 million for their expansion into Singapore, and also Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines, according to a press statement. They’re currently speaking to regulators and other stakeholders in the region, but no dates have been confirmed. In Singapore, there were rumors that they’ve been having discussions with Singapore’s biggest taxi conglomerate, ComfortDelGro; whom Uber struck a deal with just months before the whole ride-hailing soap opera began. Till now, neither party has confirmed this, but it makes absolute business sense.
Go-Jek’s CEO and founder Nadiem Makarim understands how the end-users are much happier “when they have choice”, which is what they’re aspiring to do. But before things become concrete, they’re on the lookout for local partners whose interests and expertise in the respective markets are in line with theirs so that the new operations can benefit from it.
Also, local tech start-up Filo has just rolled out their service, albeit with a little less pomp and circumstance as the other services. If you’ve already registered yourself before the service went live, you would’ve probably received a text message from them on Wednesday evening (May 23) that says: “Dear Passengers, FILO is here!! You can start booking you trips. Like our Facebook Page to be aware of the latest updates and promotions.”
However, some users are already making a fuss on their Facebook page about their user experiences. Guess only time will tell which ride hailing service will reign supreme here.
