Thanks to homegrown ride-hailing app Go-Jek, 38-year-old Eva Hikmasari from Bali has been able to provide a better life for her family.

Working as a Go-Jek driver, she now earns up to Rp 6 million (US$393.73) a month, enough to pay the bills and send her children to school.

“Being a housewife does not pay the bills, so I had to find a job,” she told The Jakarta Post recently. “I like working for Go-Jek because of its flexible hours; when I don’t want to work, I can just turn off the [Go-Jek] app.”

While conceding that she was first reluctant to become a driver, Eva became motivated after knowing that many of her neighbors, friends and families had also joined Go-Jek and saw improvements in their economic
condition.

“I completed the loan installments for my first motorcycle in less than two years using my income from Go-Jek” she said.

Eva’s case is not an isolated one. Evi Julian Sjari, a driver for Go-Car — Go-Jek’s car-hailing service — also said that her income had increased after joining Go-Jek. Now, the 42-year-old Bali resident can earn up to Rp 15 million a month.

“I became apprehensive about working on my own after my [food] catering business failed. But after joining Go-Jek, my income increased and I made a lot of friends from the drivers’ community,” she said.

Go-Jek, formally PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa, is one of Indonesia’s rare unicorn startups, which means that it has a value of more than US$1 billion. The company, founded by Nadiem Makarim, now has more 1 million drivers — about 200,000 for Go-Car and 800,000 for Go-Jek — throughout Indonesia.

The Pathways for Prosperity Commission, a global initiative launched in January 2018 by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has made Go-Jek an example of a company that uses technology to boost financial inclusion.

The initiative visited Go-Jek’s operations in Bali and met with driver-partners and merchants to learn how digital technology can help improve people’s livelihoods and build a more inclusive economy.

“[Based on] my conversations with women working as Go-Jek drivers and Go-Life [for various lifestyle services], talents serve as a case study for how digital tools can help to increase growth and inclusion by connecting people to more stable employment and income,” Gates said during the recent 2018 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings, which ended on Sunday.

The issue of digital economy was high on the Annual Meetings’ agenda. One of major topics discussed this year was finding ways to harness technology for inclusive growth by providing access to bank accounts and help boost people’s income.

With a population of 260 million, Indonesia is witnessing a rapid growth in its digital economy, despite a lower internet penetration rate when compared to other Asia Pacific countries.

Aside from Go-Jek, Indonesia owns three other unicorn startups, namely online booking platform Traveloka as well as e-commerce platforms Tokopedia and Bukalapak.

Bukalapak is also working on empowering local small and medium enterprises by providing numerous education and training opportunities to various communities.

The company recently opened up its platform to warung (small shops) by inviting as merchants and connecting them to digital payment services for various purposes, such as electricity and water bills, phone credit and train tickets.

By doing this, customers who do not have access to the internet or are reluctant to shop online can directly approach one of these warung, who will make them make the necessary purchases.

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