Grab announces follow on funding worth of US$2 billion (around 28.33 trillion Rupiah) to ease the expansion plan in Southeast Asia. It is to be used for investment or acquisition, there should be six companies by this year.
The plan is also part of Series H round, closes at US$6.5 billion. Previously, Grab’s Co-Founder and CEO, Anthony Tan said this round is still open for interested investors.
In March 2019, Grab has just announced US$1.46 billion funding (around Rp20.65 trillion) from SoftBank Vision Fund. In this round, Grab has received US$4.5 billion, fully supported by SoftBank and other investors.
The partnership between Grab and SoftBank is tighter and has reached the next level, which has been going on since 2014.
In the official release, Anthony said he met Masayoshi (SoftBank CEO) last week and provided unlimited support for Grab’s growth. The support, along with other investors, will enable Grab to develop intensely this year in all payment, transportation and food services.
“At the current growth rate, we expect to be four times greater than our closest competitors in Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia by the end of this year,” he added.
In addition, he also said that he would continue to develop Indonesia’s startups and technology talents through such programs as Grab Ventures Velocity and Thinkubator.
Ming Maa, Grab’s President added, along with the massive transformation, there are opportunities to grow in various services such as health, finance and others. For this reason, Grab will do at least six investments or acquisitions this year.
“Among other major markets, Indonesia have privilege to get this latest investment significantly. It will get us on the right track to be 4x bigger than our closest competitor and remain a leader in the on-demand transportation.”
In a previous press conference, Grab’s business is said to grow rapidly with double revenue in 2018. GrabFood is also in line, it has covered 178 cities in Indonesia, growing from 13 cities at the beginning of last year. GrabFood’s shipping volume increased almost 10 times in the same year.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
