Google's website www.blog.google confirmed the investment, saying that the investment allows the global firm to partner with a great local startup and deepens its commitment to Indonesia’s digital economy.

“By investing in local companies, building locally relevant products and training local talent, we hope to see more amazing local champions like G-Jek emerge in Indonesia,” Google said.

Previously, sources told Reuters that Google and Singapore state investor Temasek were among those investing in Go-Jek as part of a $1.2 billion fundraising round.

Google’s website did not specify how much Google is investing but two sources had told Reuters that Google was investing about $100 million.

Indonesia is estimated to have more than 133 million internet users, the fifth largest population of internet users in the world.

Google said it has already trained nearly 60,000 Indonesians on mobile app development, toward its goal of training 100,000 developers by 2020. Through its Gapura Digital initiative, the company has also trained more than 40,000 small business owners in 10 cities.

Go-Jek is a rival of two other major ride-hailing services, namely Uber and Grab. (bbn)

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