Hyundai joins round for Southeast Asia's Grab

Grab received $2 billion last July from SoftBank and Chinese peer Didi Chuxing as part of what was expected to be a $2.5 billion Series G round. This would take the company’s total disclosed funding above $3.9 billion and bring its valuation to a reported $6 billion. Toyoto Tsusho, a division of the Japanese automotive giant, subsequently invested from its Next Technology Fund.

Hyundai’s investment is part of a strategic partnership intended to help the company explore sharing economy opportunities in Southeast Asia. It will work with Grab on various initiatives, including the introduction of electric vehicles. Last year, Hyundai launched car-sharing services featuring its Ioniq Electric model – which offers electrified powertrain hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure battery electric options – in the US, the Netherlands, and Austria.

“Hyundai’s strategic investment in Grab marks the beginning of an exciting new partnership between the two parties, bringing Hyundai one step closer to realizing its vision for future mobility. Grab’s expertise in the Southeast Asian market coupled with Hyundai’s eco-vehicle leadership will bring innovative services to customers,’’ said Young Cho Chi, Hyundai’s chief innovation officer, in a statement.

Founded in 2012, Grab clams to be the largest transportation network in Southeast Asia, with a fleet of more than 2.3 million drivers that provides over 3.5 million daily rides across 168 cities in eight countries. The company offers private car, motorbike, taxi, and carpooling services, and also operates a mobile payments platform. The Grab app has been downloaded onto over 77 million mobile devices.

SoftBank and Didi have committed multiple investments in Grab between them, along with backers such as Tiger Global Management, China Investment Corporation, GGV Capital and Vertex Ventures. Last October, the company secured $700 million in debt funding from leading global and regional banks, which was earmarked for expansion of its car rental fleet.

Grab has entered into several strategic partnerships. It formed a partnership with Didi, India’s Ola and US-based Lyft with the intention of allowing customers of one service can use the same app to order rides from multiple other services. The company has also teamed up with Singapore-based transportation provider SMRT for access to SMRT’s licensed taxi and private car fleets.

Furthermore, when announcing the Toyota investment, Grab said it would work with Toyota Motor, Toyota Financial Services Corporation, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance. This includes sharing data on driving patterns from the Toyota cars in Grab’s fleet. Toyota analyzes this information and suggests how other connected car services on its mobility service platform – such as user-based insurance, financing program, and predictive maintenance – could be used by Grab.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Technology
• Expansion
• TMT
• Transportation
• Growth capital
• Singapore