SINGAPORE (April 8): Grab Holdings is expecting to rake in further US$2 billion ($2.71 billion) in funding to bring its total capital raised this year to US$6.5 billion, following its Series H round which saw SoftBank and other key strategic investors invest over US$4.5 billion in the ride-hailing app.
Last month, Grab secured a US$1.46 billion investment from SoftBank Vision Fund. Both Grab and the Japanese conglomerate have been working together since 2014.
In its statement on Monday, Grab says it will also seek to invest aggressively by committing to make at least six investments or acquisitions in Southeast Asia this year.
Looking at the firm’s current growth rates, Grab co-founder and CEO, Anthony Tan, expects to the firm to be four times bigger than the company’s “closest competitor in Indonesia and across the region” by the end of the year.
“In line with the tremendous transformation that Southeast Asia is currently undergoing, the opportunity is ripe for us to further grow in domains like healthcare and financial services amongst others,” says Ming Maa, president of Grab.
“Amongst other key markets, Indonesia in particular will see us invest a significant portion of fresh proceeds, where we are on track to be four times larger than our nearest competitor and remain the leader in on-demand transport,” he adds.
While Tan and Maa did not specifically name their mentioned competitor, both are presumably referring to Grab’s Indonesia-headquartered rival Go-Jek, which officially launched in Singapore earlier in Jan this year.
According to Grab, the firm’s own Indonesian business revenue has more-than-doubled over 2018, while it also has a 62% share of the country’s ride-hailing market, based on ABI Research statistics.
Grab also highlights GrabFood’s growing presence in Indonesia as its food delivery arm currently operates in 178 Indonesian cities as compared to just 13 at the start of 2018, with delivery volumes growing almost tenfold in 2018.
