Gojek shares the “secret sauce” of “hyper-growth” through machine learning with promising start-ups in a bid to empower Indonesia's next unicorns. The tech giant highlights how machine learning algorithms can be used to turn big data into products and services that work.
Who knows better how to help Indonesia’s start-ups become unicorns than Gojek? The homegrown technology company is the fastest-growing start-up in Indonesia. In 2016, it became the first Indonesian unicorn – with a valuation over US$1 billion – and earlier this year, based on CB Insights research, it became the first Indonesian decacorn – worth at least US$10 billion.
With its expertise and experience, Gojek strives to empower fellow start-ups to become the next generation of unicorns. The Gojek Xcelerate program seeks to realize this commitment by building a tight-knit start-up community and providing a supportive network for start-ups to scale up faster.
The program connects start-ups to a network of mentors. They are the partners and investors who will help equip start-up entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge they need to have a greater impact on Indonesia. The reach of Gojek Xcelerate will stretch far beyond the start-ups involved. Start-ups can improve the lives of millions of people, promoting social mobility and economic empowerment with the resources they need to expand their services, solve problems and create new opportunities at a larger scale.
Gojek’s best and brightest tech talent will share strategies to hack growth through data and experiments. They will also provide lessons on how to build a great working culture, including selecting a product team to create an environment that enables the best performance, implementing creative thinking in solving business problems, and using machine learning in collaboration with the Google Developers Launchpad. Other partners, such as McKinsey & Co and Digitaraya, will help start-ups improve their business model and set effective OKRs. UBS bank will share strategies on company valuation.
With machine learning, businesses can leverage the power of data to predict and capture upcoming opportunities, improve their products and services and accelerate their growth. In the long run, this model can create sustainable competitive advantages.
More companies are studying and adopting machine learning models to address tech problems. With the ubiquity of machine learning, companies that refuse to catch up may be at a disadvantage.
Machine Learning, however, still needs to go hand in hand with sharp business acumen and a specific goal. Improvisation may not lead to tangible results.
Gojek has been promoting machine learning and encouraging startups to build efficient machine learning models by acquiring relevant data as early as possible. Through Gojek Xcelerate, the tech company will train start-ups to include machine learning in their business models and build capabilities in-house to scale up machine learning at the right time. The five startups that form the first cohort of Gojek Xcelerate are Crewdible, a logistics firm that connects online merchants with warehouse owners through its platform; Izy.ai, which is a hospitality-focused start-up that uses mobile and machine learning technology to elevate hotel experiences; Peto, an app-based solution provider for pet needs, such as pet adoption, insurance, grooming, general tips and dog walking; Qlue, a smart-city app that allows citizens to identify issues around their neighborhoods and report them to the government; and Travelio, an accommodation-sharing start-up that connects property owners and developers to potential tenants.
Machine learning at Gojek
Every day, Gojek has to handle an enormous amount of data. As a huge ecosystem, Gojek has dozens of on-demand services, hundreds of thousands of merchants and millions of drivers and customers. Operating in five countries in Southeast Asia, Gojek processes millions of orders each day.
Using machine learning, Gojek analyzes big data, recognizes behavior and consumption patterns, and collects insights to improve its services. These insights enable Gojek to unlock better earning opportunities for its drivers and merchants.
“A larger volume of data going through the Gojek platform allows us to analyze larger and more complex data, so we can produce more accurate insights to serve our customers better,” Gojek co-CEO Kevin Aluwi said.
Machine learning has helped Gojek improve its efficiency, save costs, improve people’s quality of life and accelerate its business growth.
How machine learning turned GoFood into Southeast Asia’s biggest food delivery service
The rapidly growing food delivery service GoFood is a case in point. Gojek has perfected its food recommendations for users by using machine learning. This allows GoFood users to have a convenient, speedy and personalized experience when ordering their food. When GoFood users enter the app, they see a mix of curated recommended cuisines and restaurants based on their previous orders and preferences.
Gojek has deployed machine learning to categorize menu items on GoFood. Previously, Gojek sorted the menu items manually, placing each item of food and drink one by one according to the cuisine to which it belonged. The process was slow and time-consuming.
Now, it has deployed an automated data labeling system. From the existing database of labels for over 100,000 menu items, the system can quickly recognize and automatically categorize menu items on GoFood using machine learning. This method has significantly reduced the amount of time and effort needed in the sorting and labeling process, allowing merchants to introduce new menu items faster. With the high accuracy of the machine learning system, GoFood users are able to find their food and beverages easily.
“Seeing the great potential of machine learning, Gojek also allocated a significant amount of investment to train engineers on machine learning in order to create more solutions through technology and eventually have a greater impact on everyone in our ecosystem, as well as Indonesia,” Kevin added.
