Grab Taxi Now at $14B Upon Settling $1.46B from Vision Fund

On Wednesday, Southeast Asian transport firm giant Grab secures $1.46 billion new funds. All come from the SoftBank Vision Fund.

Moreover, within the firm’s current funding round, the company raise more than $4.5 billion. That with investment coming from various car makers and tech giants. That includes Toyota, Hyundai Motor, Microsoft, China’s Ping An Capital, and OppenheimerFunds.

Elsewhere, following that fresh financing coming from the Vision Fund, Grab current valuation is standing at about $14 billion. All according to a source familiar about the matter.

Grab President on Shareholder support

According to Ming Maa, Grab President, the company already seen “overwhelming shareholder support in our current fundraising round, with strong interest both in terms of capital invested and the quality of strategic partners.”

Additionally, Maa says that Grab continues to “receive new investor interest.” Furthermore, it looks forward to “welcoming more global industry leaders as partners in 2019.”

Subsequently, according to Reuters, the current funding round began upon United States transport firm giant Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab. Additionally, acquiring about 27.5 percent stake in the business.

Grab – Funds for more services

Moreover, the firm says it plans to use funds to create additional everyday services within its platform. To add up, it plans to expand presence within the financial services, parcel delivery, food delivery, and digital payments.

According to David Thevenon, partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, in a statement, “This investment will help the company explore exciting new opportunities across on-demand mobility, delivery, and financial services as it continues to grow its offline-to-online platform across Southeast Asia.”

Foreseeing Grab as a company

Subsequently, Grab’s origin as a transport service firm began by a start-up introduction with various services. That includes food and grocery delivery, micro-lending to the unbanked or underbanked in Southeast Asia, and mobile payment.

Earlier in 2019, the company says it starts a partnership with Hooq, a regional video streaming startup. That will allow users to stream movies and TV shows within the Grab mobile application.

Moreover, the idea of multiple services bundling in a single app comes from the factual scenario that users tend to use only a handful of application daily. Even they might install various apps on their smartphone only a few will be opened within the day.

Meanwhile, just last year, Grab say its plan to have a joint venture with Chinese health care services platform Ping An Good Doctor. The joint venture app aims to provide integrated medical services. That includes artificial intelligence-assisted online consultations and appointment bookings.