Malaysia-based taxi booking app operator GrabTaxi raised $250m in series D funding yesterday from internet and telecommunications firm Softbank, which became the company’s single largest investor.
GrabTaxi has now raised a total of $340m in funding, including $15m in a June 2014 series B round from travel agency Qunar, Vertex Venture Holdings, which acts as a subsidiary of Singaporean state-backed fund Temasek, and GGV Capital.
The company subsequently closed a $65m series C round in October round backed by its previous investors, fund manager Tiger Global and Hillhouse Capital.
GrabTaxi, which operates as MyTeksi in its home country, serves 17 cities across six countries in Southeast Asia, and will use the fresh investment to expand into new geographic markets.
SoftBank has been making several significant investments in southern Asia recently as part of a $10bn investment plan, with India a particular focus.
The Japan-based corporate invested $627m in e-commerce company Snapdeal in October and $210m in car rental and taxi aggregator Olacabs the same month. It is reportedly also looking to close a nine-figure investment in mobile payment company Paytm.