TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Southeast Asian online transportation company Grab has pulled in US$2 billion from China's DiDi Chuxing and Japan's SoftBank, Grab's major investors in its latest cycle of funding.
Grab co-founder Anthony Tan projects the funding could expand up to US$500 million to reach a total of US$2.5 billion from existing and new investors.
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Tan said the amount is the biggest of a single-funding in Southeast Asian history.
"We are delighted to deepen our strategic partnership with DiDi and SoftBank. We’re encouraged that these two visionary companies share our optimism for the future of Southeast Asia and its on-demand transportation and payments markets, and recognize that Grab is ideally positioned to capitalize on the massive market opportunities," said Tan.
Tan is confident that the support from DiDi and SoftBank will help Grab become the market leader in the ride-sharing industry, and build Grabpay into becoming the main payment solution in the region.
Grab operates the biggest and among the most widely-used online transportation network in Southeast Asia, with some 3 million rides booked each day. The company employs 1.1 million drivers to date.
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The Grab app has been downloaded over 50 million times, and the GrabPay Credits use has increased to more than 80 percent since launched in December last year.
