Gojek Invests In Tech Wearables Company ZULU

A tech wearable company called ZULU has received an investment from ride-hailing company Gojek, according to a report by Deal Street Asia.

The amount of the investment is not known.

ZULU, which was founded in 2018 by Nathan Roestandy and Yusuf Syaid, makes Bluetooth wearables like goggles, gloves, jackets, motorcycle helmets and pollution control masks.

“We secured funding from Gojek in August 2018 after pitching our business in January 2018. From there, we managed the new project to produce new jackets [for Gojek driver-partners],” noted ZULU Co-founder and CTO Syaid.

The company has already made one million jackets for Gojek.

“We created smart barcodes in the new jackets and helmets, producing over two million pieces [in total],” Syaid said.

Gojek is currently the only ZULU investor; the company is in the process of raising a Series A funding round. Syaid said he will use the money to expand the company’s team and to launch new projects.

This is the first Gojek investment in the consumer goods space. The company has acquired 11 companies, including India AI company AirCTO last year. It has also invested in cloud kitchen company Rebel Foods.

Gojek is looking to finish a Series F round of $2 billion this year.

The ride-hailing company also recently announced that it is taking a strategic stake in the Blue Bird taxi company. Gojek will acquire 5 percent of the company in order to stay competitive with Grab and other rivals. Gojek paid about $30 million for the stake, which values Blue Bird at $600 million.

Gojek is also finalizing a deal to purchase point-of-sale (POS) startup Moka for at least $120 million. Moka’s cloud-based POS platform helps restaurants, coffee shops and retail outlets with handling payments.