Grab has become the newest addition to the SoftBank Vision Fund after it announced today that it has pulled in a $1.46 billion investment from the super fund. The Southeast Asian ridesharing company said the new money will be used to further its super app strategy, which is aimed at making its service a daily app for consumers, but it is also likely to be used to battle rival Go-Jek.
The deal — which was first reported by TechCrunch in December — takes Grab’s ongoing Series H round to $4.5 billion. Other investors in that round include Toyota, Booking Holdings, Microsoft and Hyundai. The new deal means Grab has now raised more than $7.5 billion to date. Grab, which bought out Uber’s local business last year, was last valued at $11 billion when it secured a $1 billion investment from Toyota to kick off this Series H in June. A source told TechCrunch that the new round values the company at $14 billion.
Despite this huge injection, Grab confirmed that the round — a record for a Southeast Asian startup — is not closed yet. TechCrunch reported in December that the Series H funding goal, which was originally $2 billion, had been raised to $5 billion.
The Vision Fund deal has been months in the making. SoftBank is an existing investor in Grab and, as had already happened with Coupang and Tokopedia, is transitioning its stake into the Vision Fund. That hasn’t happened yet, TechCrunch understands, but this capital investment hints that it will be completed soon.
“We have been working alongside Grab for a number of years and are privileged to support the evolution of its user-driven technologies. 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,” said SoftBank’s David Thevenon in a statement.
Beyond ride-hailing, Grab also operates payments and food delivery businesses. Last year, it began working with third-party partners to bring additional services into the Grab family; some of those partners include streaming service Hooq, Ping An Good Doctor and grocery delivery company HappyFresh.
Grab’s news today comes just a day after Go-Jek announced a $100 million injection into its ongoing Series H fund, which sources have told TechCrunch is aimed at raising $2 billion. The company, which is expanding in Southeast Asia, said it closed $1 billion from existing investors in January.
Go-Jek originated in Indonesia but, over the past six months, it has expanded into Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, with the Philippines also in its plans.
[Source: “Grab confirms $1.46B investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund” published by TechCrunch]
