Move-Jek Is In Talks With Former Uber Best Friend Comfortdelgro, Singapore’s Pinnacle Taxi Firm

Comfortdelgro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator, has held talks with cross-Jek approximately a potential partnership that could update its annulled agreement with Uber.

Uber struck a first-rate deal when it tied up with comfort last December, but that fell apart closing month whilst the U.S. firm agreed to sell its Southeast Asia enterprise to seize and exit the region completely. Move-Jek is already trying to step into the void by means of expanding its Indonesia-based service into Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, however now a supply tells techcrunch that the formidable startup has held early-stage talks with comfort that would see it enter Singapore as trip-hailing companion for its 15,000 drivers.

Comfort did not reply to a request for remark. A go-Jek spokesperson stated the agency “can’t touch upon rumor and hypothesis.”

Go-Jek is worth extra than $four.five billion and it has raised over $2 billion from investors that include Google, Tencent, JD.com, Allianz and Meituan Dianping. The business enterprise began existence as a motorcycle taxi-hailing app, but it has due to the fact increased into four-wheeled taxis, services on-call for and payments in Indonesia in which it's far taken into consideration the marketplace leader.

The enterprise has continually harbored a desire to increase throughout Southeast Asia and, after Uber’s exit, it is seizing an possibility. Actions into Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines — which sources advised techcrunch are underway with local teams already hired — make experience seeing that those are markets in which move-Jek can roll out its flagship motorbike carrier and doubtlessly others, but Singapore is trickier since motorbike taxis are outlawed.

Cross-Jek opened a Singapore workplace for enterprise development final 12 months, and it believes that there's call for for its offerings there. Rather than launching from scratch — which a host of smaller offerings such as Ryde and India’s Jugnoo are planning — it is eying a tie-up with consolation that would deliver it get right of entry to to its fleet.

There can be demand motive force-side, too. Comfort informed its drivers to delete Uber inside the wake of the merger deal with take hold of, however most of the fleet are reportedly uneasy about clutch being their best trip-hailing option. That’s an angle that pass-Jek may want to leverage in its talks with comfort, which can be first of all exploratory in nature, we understand.