The popular Southeast Asian ride-hailing service provider Grab has reportedly received around US$1.5 billion in new investments from the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group. Grab received the fresh financing from an investment fund run by the Japanese company called Vision Fund. SoftBank is owned by Japan's richest man, Masayoshi Son. The ride-hailing firm has so far received more than US$4.5 billion in investments since the middle of last year.
According to the Singapore-based startup service provider, the majority of the funds it has received will be used to boost its expansion into other Asian countries. The company is particularly interested in expanding its service in Indonesia. Grab has recently become the go-to app for ride-hailing in Asia following the acquisition of its US-based rival Uber. The acquisition included Uber's ride-hailing and food delivery business within Asia. In return, Uber got a 27.5 percent share of Grab's revenues.
Apart from its planned expansion in Indonesia, the company also mentioned that it will be using its new funds to further develop its parcel delivery business. The company is also planning to add new services to its portfolio, which will reportedly include on-demand video, insurance, hotel bookings, and digital healthcare.
Grab's rapid expansion in Indonesia is currently being impeded by a number of hurdles. The company is facing off with an aggressive rival in the county, the locally-established ride-hailing service, Go-Jek. Similar to Grab, Go-Jek has had some investment from some very big hitters, which includes Google, Tencent, and JD.com. Meanwhile, Grab's biggest investors include Toyota Motors, Oppenheimer Funds, Microsoft Corp, and Hyundai Motors.
Despite having such an aggressive competitor in Indonesia, Grab is still confident that it will be able to penetrate the majority of the market in the country. According to the company, its Indonesian business has been continually expanding with the company's revenues reportedly doubling last year.
Meanwhile, Go-Jek has reportedly acquired over US$1 billion in new investments through its ongoing funding round. Both companies are currently competing in Indonesia for both ride-sharing and food delivery services. However, both companies are also planning to expand to other markets, including parcel delivery and other digital services.
According to a report from Google and Temasek Holdings, "super-app" platforms such as Grab and Go-Jek have raised more than US$9.1 billion dollars from investors, private equity firms, and venture capitalists just last year. Asia's ride-hailing market is continually growing and it is expected to reach around US$28 billion by 2025. Investors are also aware of the market's potential, which has been estimated to be worth more than US$7.7 billion in 2018.
