Ride-hailing firm Grab yesterday said it has raised US$2 billion from investors to expand its offerings, which include electronic payments, food delivery and courier services, as it fights fierce competition in the fast-growing sector.
About half of the funds came from Toyota Motor Corp, which last month announced it was pumping US$1 billion into Grab, Southeast Asia’s dominant ride-hailing company.
Grab said a “significant portion” of the proceeds would go to developing operations in Indonesia, where it has partnered with local firm Ovo to offer what it said was the country’s most widely accepted mobile payments system.
The announcement came after Grab’s regional rival, Indonesian ride-hailing app Go-Jek, in May said it was investing US$500 million to expand into Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
Singapore-based Grab, which operates in eight countries, launched an on-demand grocery delivery service in Jakarta last month.
Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing market is expected to be worth US$20 billion by 2025, according to research by Google and Singapore investment vehicle Temasek Holdings Pte.
However, Grab’s agreement to buy US giant Uber Technologies Inc’s Southeast Asian business this year has run into trouble, with Singapore’s anti-monopoly watchdog calling for changes to the deal and threatening to overturn it.
Grab last week disputed the watchdog’s finding that the buyout infringed competition rules, but said it would continue to cooperate with the ongoing review.
In return for selling its Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food operations, Uber received a 27.5 percent stake in Grab.
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