Thursday, November 21

Tag: grab

Grab invests $2 billion in Indonesia through Softbank Vision Fund
News

Grab invests $2 billion in Indonesia through Softbank Vision Fund

Ride-hailing giant Grab is investing USD 2 billion in Indonesia over the next five years, using funds from Japan's SoftBank Group to boost its presence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. The Singapore-based firm has seen its business grow rapidly since it bought US-based rival Uber's regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year in exchange for a 27.5 percent stake in Grab. Its Indonesian investment will focus on building a next-generation electric vehicle transport network and rolling out e-healthcare services to improve access to doctors and medical services across the archipelago. The announcement came after SoftBank last week said it would partner with tech firms including Apple and Microsoft in a new $108 billion investment fund. It is the long-mooted succes...
Reliance  acquire Logistics Services platform Grab in $15 million
ACQUISITION

Reliance acquire Logistics Services platform Grab in $15 million

RIL-arm Reliance Industrial Investments has entered into agreements to acquire logistics services platform Grab and software firm C-Square Info Solutions. Reliance Industries, in a regulatory filing, said its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings has entered into an agreement for acquisition of equity shares of Grab A Grub Services Private Limited ('Grab') for a cash consideration not exceeding Rs 106 crore. "RIIHL will further invest an amount of up to Rs 40 crore and is likely to be completed by March 2021. The total investment will translate into 83 per cent of equity capital in Grab on a fully diluted basis," RIL said. "The aforesaid investment will further augment the group's digital commerce initiatives and strengthen its logistics services, ca...
SoftBank Group to Close $1.5 billion Investment in a Cab Aggregator
BUSINESS

SoftBank Group to Close $1.5 billion Investment in a Cab Aggregator

SoftBank Group is in advanced talks to invest $1.5 billion in Grab, three times a previously expected $500 million, as Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm looks to expand, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Six-year old cab aggregator Grab has so far raised over $6.5 billion, led by SoftBank, Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and Toyota. After a fund raising in August, Grab was valued at around $11 billion. SoftBank first bought a stake worth $250 million in Grab in 2014 just as Grab began competing with Uber Technologies in Southeast Asia.  Its latest funding in the ride-hailing firm will be made from its Vision Fund, which after raising more than $93 billion last year is the world's largest private-equity fund. A source stated that SoftBank is expected to finalise it...
Singapore-based Grab in Advanced Talks to Invest $100 Million in OYO
BUSINESS

Singapore-based Grab in Advanced Talks to Invest $100 Million in OYO

Singapore ride-hailing company Grab is in advanced talks to invest $100 million (Rs 697.7 crore) in OYO Hotels & Homes as part of the Indian hospitality chain’s ongoing $1 billion funding round. Grab is expected to close the deal over the next few days, according to two people briefed on the matter. Grab and OYO, both of which count SoftBank as one of their primary investors, have identified Indonesia as a key market for growth. Grab, which has been going head-to-head with Indonesia’s ride-hailing and logistics startup Go-Jek, has stated its intention of entering sectors ranging from grocery delivery to healthcare, according to a report by Bloomberg. OYO announced the launch of its operations in Indonesia in October last year. At the time, the Ritesh Agarwal-led company starte...
Cab Aggregator Grab Ties up With MasterCard to Offer Virtual Debit Cards
BUSINESS

Cab Aggregator Grab Ties up With MasterCard to Offer Virtual Debit Cards

Ride hailing company Grab has reportedly has announced its plans to introduce virtual pre-paid debit in collaboration with Mastercard. This move is the biggest digital payment push in Southeast Asia to date. The particular deal will witness its Grab Pay business offer Grab’s 110 million registered users the option to use a virtual Mastercard to make payments both online and in-person. With this partnership, the users will be able to use physical Grab Pay cards or virtual ones, the latter being a card number, expiry date, and other details that are held within the Grab app. “We see Grab Pay as a glue that goes across all the products we offer, and rewards our users for using them,” Reuben Lai, senior managing director at Grab Financial said. “Grab Pay users spend two times more than ...
Uber Sells its Southeast Asia Operations to Grab
News

Uber Sells its Southeast Asia Operations to Grab

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc came to terms with bigger regional rival Grab to sell its Southeast Asian business operations, both firms said in a statement released today. The deal now puts pressure on Alphabet Inc’s Google and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd who both support Indonesia’s Go-Jek. The deal between Uber and Grab is Southeast Asia’s first big consolidation. This region is now experiencing fierce competition in the ride-hailing industry after Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund invested over a billion dollar in Uber and Grab. As part of the deal, Uber will now hold 27.5 percent stake in the Singapore-based company and Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, is reportedly going to join Grab’s board. "It will help us double down on our plans for growth as we inves...
Grab Announces Acquisition of Bangalore Based Payments Startup
ACQUISITION

Grab Announces Acquisition of Bangalore Based Payments Startup

Grab, the leading on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, today announced it has acquired Bangalore-based payments startup iKaaz. The rich functionality of iKaaz’ mobile payments platform and its experienced leadership team will accelerate feature development and partner integration of GrabPay, Grab’s payments platform. Already Southeast Asia’s #1 ride-hailing platform, Grab is expanding across all markets in Southeast Asia in 2018 with the goal of becoming the region’s universal payments platform. Launched in 2014, iKaaz’ technology was built to work in India’s challenging internet conditions and enable effortless and fast payments for thousands of merchants. ikaaz’ technology stack encompasses a range of innovations, such as NFC, QR-code, audio-based p...
Uber rival Didi Chuxing gets $4 bn from SoftBank, others for global expansion
FUNDING

Uber rival Didi Chuxing gets $4 bn from SoftBank, others for global expansion

Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing Technology Co has raised $4 billion in a new funding round, the firm said on Thursday, boosting its war chest as it looks to expand overseas and intensify a challenge to Uber Technologies Inc. The fundraising will help fuel the firm’s global expansion plans as well as help it develop its business into areas like artificial intelligence (AI), Didi said. The round values the firm at over $50 billion and pre-existing investor SoftBank Group Corp is a participant, a person familiar with the deal told Reuters. SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “With a substantial cash reserve, Didi plans to scale up investments in AI talent and technologies,” Didi said in a statement. The funds would also help the firm “bring more ...
Ride-Hailing Firm Grab Launches Services In Cambodia
News

Ride-Hailing Firm Grab Launches Services In Cambodia

Ride-hailing firm Grab, the biggest Southeast Asian rival of Uber Technologies Inc, on Tuesday said it has launched services in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, expanding its presence to an eighth country in the region. The Singapore-headquartered firm said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport to support infrastructure development. The launch marks the latest development in a quick-moving industry, coming just three months after Uber likewise began services in what the World Bank ranks as the sixth-fastest expanding economy. In October, Grab secured $700 million in debt financing to expand its fleet and signed an exclusive partnership with Singapore public transport operator SMRT. Earlier this month, Singapore taxi firm ComfortDelG...
Chinese Ride Sharing Giant DiDi Chuxing Is Coming To North America
USA

Chinese Ride Sharing Giant DiDi Chuxing Is Coming To North America

Beijing, China's ride hailing giant Didi Chuxing is planning to expand its services to expand to Mexico by next year, marking the company's first international expansion move. This also signals a new phase of competition with global ride sharing company Uber, which quit its Chinese business by selling it to Didi in 2016 after lengthy and expensive battle. After Uber, Didi Chuxing is the most valued privately owned firm in the world. Its decision to begin recruiting drivers and offering rides in Mexico will surely be seen as shot across Uber's bow at a time when the company witnessed a series of self-inflicted scandals. Didi right now has no card outside China, but will be launching an app in the Mexico and recruit local drivers. It is unclear which cities Didi will target, althoug...
SoftBank Funding May Prompt Uber To Review Game Plan In Southeast Asia
BUSINESS

SoftBank Funding May Prompt Uber To Review Game Plan In Southeast Asia

SoftBank Group’s multi-billion dollar investment in Uber Technologies Inc opens up the possibility of combining it with other ride-hailing assets the Japanese group owns in a consolidation of a rapidly growing business across Asia, industry sources say. Uber Technologies Inc said on Nov. 12 that a planned deal with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer Investment Group was moving forward. The consortium plans to inject $1 billion to $1.25 billion into Uber, and buy up to 17 percent of existing shares in a secondary transaction. SoftBank has also been a big investor in Uber’s rivals across Asia, including Southeast Asia’s Grab, China’s DiDi Chuxing, and India’s Ola, as it works to achieve founder Masayoshi Son’s vision of a future driven by artificial intelligence and interconnec...
Temasek’s Vertex Closes $210 Mn Fund For Southeast Asia, India
BUSINESS

Temasek’s Vertex Closes $210 Mn Fund For Southeast Asia, India

Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, said it has raised a $210 million fund to invest in southeast Asian and Indian startups, exceeding its original target size of $150 million. Vertex plans to continue its strategy of investing in early-stage technology companies in southeast Asia and India across enterprise technology, financial technology and consumer internet, it said in a statement. Vertex was an early investor in ride-hailing firm Grab. In July, Grab announced a $2.5 billion fundraising round, which a source said values it at $6 billion. ALSO READ Yahoo Says All 3 Bn Accounts Hacked In 2013 Data Theft       Indian Government Makes Changes in GST, Relief to SMEs and Exporters   Ve...