Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said on Monday it expects to raise $2.5 billion in financing, mostly from China’s Didi Chuxing and Japan’s Softbank, as it strengthens its lead over rival Uber.
Didi, China’s ride-hailing leader, and mobile giant SoftBank will invest up to $2.0 billion while $500 million is expected to come from other new and existing investors, reports BSS.
Grab said it amounts to the largest single financing in Southeast Asia. Both Didi and SoftBank are already investors in Grab.
The Singapore-based firm said it would use the fresh funds to bolster its leading position in the ride-hailing industry and invest in a mobile payment platform called GrabPay.
“We are delighted to deepen our strategic partnership with Didi and SoftBank,” said Anthony Tan, Grab’s group chief executive, and co-founder.
“With their support, Grab will achieve an unassailable market lead in ridesharing, and build on this to make GrabPay the payment solution of choice for Southeast Asia.”
Grab said it has a market share of 95 percent in third-party taxi-hailing and 71 percent in private-vehicle hailing in Southeast Asia, far ahead of main rival Uber.
Grab offers private car, taxi, motorbike and carpooling services in seven countries and 65 cities across Southeast Asia, a region of 650 million people.
