Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Grab, Uber’s Competitor, to Get $2.5 Billion in Funds | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Grab Taxi/ Image Credit: Edgar Su / Reuters


Singapore- Seeking to extend its lead over Uber, southeast Asia based ride-hailing firm Grab announced it expects to raise $2.5 billion from Chinese peer Didi Chuxing and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp and others. The pair will invest up to $2 billion.

Grab said on Monday that the fundraising will be southeast Asia’s biggest-ever single round of financing. Didi and SoftBank are already investors in Grab and other ride-hailing services globally.

The firm, which will be based in Singapore, said it will use the funds to achieve an unassailable market lead in ride-sharing, and build on this to make GrabPay the payment solution.

Anthony Tan, group chief executive officer and Grab co-founder, said: “We are happy to enhance our strategic partnership with Didi and SoftBank.”

“With their support, Grab will achieve an unassailable market lead in ride-sharing, and build on this to make GrabPay the payment solution of choice for Southeast Asia,” he added.

It said it has a market share of 95 percent in third-party taxi-hailing and 71 percent in private vehicle hailing in southeast Asia, which means it has overtook its US rival Uber in this market.

Grab operates private car, motorcycle, taxi and carpooling services across seven countries and 65 cities in southeast Asia, with 650 million people.

Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi Chuxing, said Grab is establishing a clear leadership in southeast Asia’s internet economy based on its market position, superior technology and local insight.

“Didi and Grab reaffirm our shared commitment to innovating localized solutions to global urban development challenges, from the world’s fastest-growing marketplaces,” Cheng said.