Telecommunications and internet conglomerate SoftBank is likely to invest about $500m in Singapore-based ride hailing platform Grab, Reuters reported today citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
The investment would come as part of a funding round that Grab intends to close at $1bn, and which would follow a $2bn round closed in August this year at an $11bn post-money valuation that included $1bn from carmaker Toyota, as well as cash from insurance firm Ping An’s Ping An Capital unit.
Founded as GrabTaxi, Grab’s core business is an on-demand ride service that spans more than 500 towns and cities across eight Southeast Asian countries.
The funding will support an ongoing plan to diversify into a more all-purpose mobile services provider taking in food, groceries and package delivery and a range of financial services including mobile payment, digital money transfers and microfinancing.
The August round included Mirae Asset – Naver Asia Growth Fund, a partnership between internet group Naver and investment bank Mirae Asset Daewoo, as well as Vulcan Capital, All-Stars Investment, OppenheimerFunds, Cinda Sino-Rock Investment Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Macquarie Capital.
Grab has raised a total of more than $5.9bn in funding, with SoftBank first investing when it provided $250m in late 2014, after travel agency Qunar, Vertex Venture Holdings, GGV Capital, Tiger Global Management and Hillhouse Capital had supplied $80m over two rounds earlier in the year.
SoftBank joined on-demand ride service Didi Chuxing, Tiger Global, China Investment Corporation and Coatue Management for Grab’s $350m series E round the following year, before leading its $750m series F in 2016.
The company added $2.5bn in funding from investors including Toyota’s Next Technology Fund, SoftBank and Didi Chuxing in August 2017.
Financial services firm Tokyo Century, media company Emtek and automotive manufacturer Hyundai are also Grab backers, having invested undisclosed amounts in December 2016, June 2017 and January 2018 respectively.
