Ride-hailing firm Grab to invest “substantially” in Indonesia
Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing firm Grab said on March 7 that it has secured $1.5 billion in fresh financing from a fund run by Japan’s SoftBank and will use a “significant portion” of it for its expansion in Indonesia.
The fresh investment from the Vision Fund of SoftBank Group brings the total financing secured by Grab over the past year to more than $4.5 billion. Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor, Oppenheimer Funds and Microsoft Corp are among the major investors in Grab over the past year. SoftBank is owned by Japan’s richest man Masayoshi Son.
The firm has seen its business growing rapidly since it bought US-based rival Uber’s regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year. Uber received a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab in return.
The company said it is expanding its financial services and food and parcel delivery businesses, as well as adding new offerings such as on-demand video, digital healthcare, insurance and hotel bookings.
“Grab’s Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018,” the company said in a statement, adding that it aims to expand its Indonesian network of merchants, agents and drivers of at least 4.5 million individuals – people it calls “micro entrepreneurs” – to nine million by end of the year.
Grab founder Anthony Tan added that his company would also deepen its presence in Indonesia by investing in local digital talents, funding local start-ups and building ties with the government. Grab announced last year that it would invest $250 million through its Ventures Velocity programme to train Indonesian start-ups BookMyShow, Sejasa and Minutes.
The new investment in Indonesia, the home base of regional rival Go-Jek, is also an attempt to challenge the competitor which has recently launched in Singapore.
Go-Jek has won financial backing from investors including Google, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Chinese internet giant Tencent.
Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing market is expected to be worth $20 billion by 2025, according to research by Google and Temasek.
Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing firm Grab said on March 7 that it has secured $1.5 billion in fresh financing from a fund run by Japan’s SoftBank and will use a “significant portion” of it for its expansion in Indonesia. The fresh investment from the Vision Fund of SoftBank Group brings the total financing secured by Grab over the past year to more than $4.5 billion. Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor, Oppenheimer Funds and Microsoft Corp are among the major investors in Grab over the past year. SoftBank is owned by Japan’s richest man Masayoshi Son. The firm has seen its business growing rapidly...
Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing firm Grab said on March 7 that it has secured $1.5 billion in fresh financing from a fund run by Japan’s SoftBank and will use a “significant portion” of it for its expansion in Indonesia.
The fresh investment from the Vision Fund of SoftBank Group brings the total financing secured by Grab over the past year to more than $4.5 billion. Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor, Oppenheimer Funds and Microsoft Corp are among the major investors in Grab over the past year. SoftBank is owned by Japan’s richest man Masayoshi Son.
The firm has seen its business growing rapidly since it bought US-based rival Uber’s regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year. Uber received a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab in return.
The company said it is expanding its financial services and food and parcel delivery businesses, as well as adding new offerings such as on-demand video, digital healthcare, insurance and hotel bookings.
“Grab’s Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018,” the company said in a statement, adding that it aims to expand its Indonesian network of merchants, agents and drivers of at least 4.5 million individuals – people it calls “micro entrepreneurs” – to nine million by end of the year.
Grab founder Anthony Tan added that his company would also deepen its presence in Indonesia by investing in local digital talents, funding local start-ups and building ties with the government. Grab announced last year that it would invest $250 million through its Ventures Velocity programme to train Indonesian start-ups BookMyShow, Sejasa and Minutes.
The new investment in Indonesia, the home base of regional rival Go-Jek, is also an attempt to challenge the competitor which has recently launched in Singapore.
Go-Jek has won financial backing from investors including Google, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Chinese internet giant Tencent.
Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing market is expected to be worth $20 billion by 2025, according to research by Google and Temasek.
