Grab and Go-Jek might no longer be the ruler of ride hailing market in Southeast Asia soon. After Uber failed the attempt, now a Vietnamese startup is bravely challenging the two giants. FastGo, with NextTech behind its back, is setting the target to follow the two giants.
Despite being ambitious, the company still has a reasonable goal. For the time being, it set its goal of narrowing the market share gap between itself and the two dominants. At least, it is the plan for the next three years.
NextTech has always had the though of expanding to other countries outside Vietnam. It is another strategy to keep the company from being crushed by Grab and Go-Viet, Go-Jek’s subsidiary in the country.
FastGo is now eyeing the Indonesia and Thailand market. This news sparked interests of the two regional majors. Grab Indonesia and Go-Jek Indonesia representatives stated that they both welcome the entrance of FastGo in Indonesian market, reported CNBC Indonesia and VIVA.
Will FastGo make it, though?
Currently, the company has entered Singapore and Myanmar market. In Singapore, it announced that it has recruited 3,000 partner drivers just within a month. Meanwhile in Myanmar, it boasted that it has 4,000 partner drivers and that 100,000 people are using the app.
Although it has only been a year since FastGo first launch, it has grown big with 60.000 partner drivers in Vietnam. Its expansion to Myanmar and Singapore also granted itself a title of the first Vietnamese player to enter International market. And MyGo, backed by Viettel Post is going to follow.
The secret is to focus on the partner drivers. It has many benefits for its partner drivers. FastGo seemed to be learning on Go-Jek and Grab mistakes of allegedly treating its drivers unfairly. Being a late runner has saved the Vietnam’s startup the effort of educating both drivers and consumers.
With the sturdy back up from NextTech Group, FastGo might actually reach its goal. NextTech Group is the biggest tech company in Vietnam, often called as the Vietnam’s Alibaba. It is presence in five countries across Southeast Asia, as well as the US and China.