Grab raises $1.5 bn from SoftBank fund

SINGAPORE: Leading South-East Asian ride-hailing provider Grab raised about $1.5 billion from SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, bankrolling its effort to expand into new services across the region.

The funding brings to about $4.5 billion the amount of money the company has collected from investors in the past year, it said. SoftBank is already a major backer of the Singapore-based startup, and the latest investment will boost its stake.

Grab founder Anthony Tan is battling Go-Jek for leadership in the South-East Asian market after vanquishing Uber Technologies Inc. in the region last year. Tan is holding a press conference on Wednesday in Indonesia, its rival’s home turf, and plans to spend a significant portion of the latest proceeds in the country.

Go-Jek has presented the thorniest challenge, with the Jakarta-based startup marching into Grab’s home market of Singapore as well as Vietnam and Thailand. Go-Jek, led by Tan’s Harvard Business School classmate Nadiem Makarim, is also raising additional capital to compete for customers and drivers.

South-East Asia’s two most valuable startups are aiming to expand swiftly in everything from mobile payments to food delivery. Go-Jek raised over $1 billion in its ongoing funding round from a clutch of internet giants including Google, JD.com Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd, Bloomberg reported last month. Both companies are using the proceeds to shore up their positions in Indonesia and expand around the region, while merging payments with ride-sharing and food delivery to create so-called super apps.

On Wednesday, Maa said his startup had no plans for an initial public offering (IPO) at this point but was monitoring the impending debuts of Uber and Lyft Inc.