Shuli Ren, Columnist

What Uber Left Behind in Asia

Emerging markets outshine the U.S. in ride-hailing, as the burgeoning success of Go-Jek and Grab shows.

May 2, 2019 at 4:19 AM UTC

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

All your personal needs: Go-Jek food delivery workers.
Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

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All it takes is a quick trip to Jakarta to realize that Uber Technologies Inc. missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Go-Jek Indonesia PT and GrabTaxi Holdings Pte, which started out as copycats of the U.S. ride-hailing pioneer, have morphed into something far grander. Not only are their main car-hire businesses thriving, the companies have turned into super-apps that can satisfy a range of personal needs, from paying bills and ordering food to finding house cleaners. That’s helped make them Southeast Asia’s two most valuable unicorns.