Ride-hailing company Grab is in talks to receive a further $1 billion investment to expand its operations in Southeast Asia.
Grab appears to be one of the hottest investments around right now. Back in June, IoT News reported automotive giant Toyota had pumped $1 billion into the company.
According to a FinanceAsia report, Grab is ready for more.
“Grab is on track to swiftly raise another US$1 billion for its expansion drive across Southeast Asia,” the report (paywalled) said, citing its President Ming Maa.
Grab acquired Uber’s operations in Southeast Asia. With the innovation happening around connected and driverless cars, it’s little surprise companies active in the space like Grab are receiving substantial interest.
On an international scale, Uber still retains a significant lead over Grab with its first-mover advantage. The company’s operations in Southeast Asia, however, already provides relative parity with Uber offering a range of Online to Offline (O2O) services including food delivery.
Investment from Toyota was a huge vote of confidence in Grab. Together, the companies are exploring how the Toyota Mobility Service Platform (MSPF) could enrich the experience for drivers on the Grab platform with features such as predictive maintenance and telematics-based insurance.
President of Grab, Ming Maa, said at the time:
“As a global leader in the automotive industry, Toyota’s investment in Grab is based on their conviction in our leadership in driving the adoption of new mobility solutions and expanding O2O mobile services, such as GrabFood and GrabPay, in the region.
Our rapid user and revenue growth is a testament to our ability to hyper-localise, efficiently execute, and provide the highest efficiency platform in a region as diverse as Southeast Asia.”
Back in April, Grab also secured $1 billion from OppenheimerFunds, Ping An Capital, Macquarie Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Cinda Sino-Rock Investment Management, All-Stars Investment, and Vulcan Capital.
What are your thoughts on Grab’s operations? Let us know in the comments.
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