Grab picks up $2bn to fuel its continued growth in Southeast Asia

Grab TaxiSoutheast Asian ride hailing firm Grab has raised another $2bn in its current funding round as it looks to expand the range of online-to-offline (O2O) services it offers.

The latest funding round is led by Toyota, which agreed to invest in Grab as part of data collaboration deal just under a year ago. The Japanese vehicle giant has been joined in the financing by OppenheimerFunds, Ping An Capital, Miraae Asset – Naver Asia Growth Fund, Cinda Sino-Rock Investment Management Company, All-Stars Investment, Vulcan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Macquarie Capital, and others.

“We are honoured to welcome these top-tier financial institutions into our roster of strategic investors and partners,” said Ming Maa, president of Grab. “Grab is today the industry-changing O2O platform that enables millions of consumers and entrepreneurs to come online and drive the digital economy in Southeast Asia.”

Grab says it will use its new funds to help it grow ‘into becoming the everyday super app of choice’ for people across Southeast Asia, expanding on services such as GrabPay, GrabFood, GrabExpress, and GradFresh.

In addition to growing its platform, the firm promises to invest a ‘significant portion’ of the funds in Indonesia, where more than half of its 7.1m micro-entrepreneurs reside.

The latest round of funding comes just over a year after Grab picked up another $2bn from Didi Chuxing and SotfBank, and seven months since Hyundai also invested in the company as part of a deal to work on future mobility services together.

Back in March, Grab acquired rival Uber’s business in Southeast Asia. Although, the deal is currently being investigated by Singapore’s competition watchdog over its possible threat to competition in the region.

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