Indonesian-headquartered on-demand startup GOJEK acquired AirCTO, a Bangalore-based Artificial Intelligence recruitment platform, and opened its second engineering and product development centre in Gurgaon.
As part of the deal, the AirCTO team will be joining GOJEK with immediate effect and will be looking into building products that accelerate the recruitment of talent for GOJEK. The acquisition aligns with GOJEK’s focus on hiring premium talent to support the development of its ‘Super App’. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The company has also announced the opening of a new office in Gurgaon, for which GOJEK plans to hire 100 employees aiming to reach a total headcount of 500 in India by the year-end. As part of its expansion plans, the company is also considering further acquisitions in India.
The company is actively interested in companies with complementary expertise in engineering, design and product management.
“Our investment in Gurgaon underlines our commitment to growing the GOJEK India story. We have looked at multiple ways to expand our operations and concluded that Gurgaon is a logical destination to set up shop, not least because of the amazing talent we have found in the area. GOJEK recorded an annualized Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of US $9 billion as of 2018, and the hyper-growth journey we’ve been on demands talent who are willing to take risks, fail, learn and continue to scale a company that aims to solve everyday problems for Southeast Asia. With operations underway in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, we will now consider whether further acquisitions are needed as we seek to bring in entrepreneurial teams who can help us further develop the multi-service business model that makes GOJEK a leader in Southeast Asia,” said Sidu Ponnappa, MD India at GOJEK.
Atif Haider, Founder, AirCTO, said, “At AirCTO we’ve focused on the pain points technology firms experience as they seek to find talent that fits their requirements. We believe that recruiting as an industry needs a major upheaval, and we started AirCTO with this in mind. Over the past three years, we’ve helped a range of startups and corporates source qualified candidates for critical technology roles. We were in talks with a number of other tech giants, but we found GOJEK to be the best fit, as we share similar DNA – something that’s really important for us. We intend to use our prowess in recruitment to contribute to the hyper-growth GOJEK is currently experiencing across Southeast Asia.”
GOJEK is the largest single-market food delivery app in the world outside of China. It is the largest food delivery app in Southeast Asia with over 400,000 merchants, 85% of these are small micro-entrepreneurs that rely heavily on GO-FOOD for revenue.
Working at GOJEK gives an opportunity to solve real challenges and transform lives across Southeast Asia. Earlier this year, Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called out GOJEK’s use of technology as a case study on how digital tools can help increase growth and inclusion. The company’s vision has fuelled the culture of ‘Social Impact’ and its deep narratives that can help the lives of millions.
At the beginning of the year, GOJEK announced the first closing of its ongoing Series F funding round led by Google, JD.com, and Tencent, along with Mitsubishi Corporation and Provident Capital.