Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek has announced its plans to invest $500m (£373m) in expanding its services across Southeast Asia, moving into the void left by Uber’s recent sale of its Southeast Asia business to rival Grab.  

Go-Jek’s expansion plans will take its services to Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines over the next few months – initially offering ride-hailing services before adding other services such as mobile payments, food delivery, and on-demand shopping.

“Consumers are happiest when they have choice and at the moment, people in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines don’t feel that they’re getting enough when it comes to ride-hailing,” said Nadiem Makarim, founder and CEO of Go-Jek. “We hope that as we arrive in new markets, we will quickly become everyone’s go-to lifestyle app. That is our aspiration. In the meantime, we hope our presence will provide the welcome competition markets need to thrive.”

In order to provide this competition, Go-Jek – which is backed by the likes of Google and Tencent – will work with local partners in its four new markets to get the best possible service from those with an understanding of each nation.

“We believe the best way for us to expand internationally is by partnering with talented local teams who share our vision and know exactly what will work best in their home countries,” said Makarim. “Our role will be to act as advisors, giving the new companies the benefit of our operational and development experience so they can take the spirit with which we created Go-Jek and find the best way to achieve that locally.”