South-east Asia’s largest ride hailing firm Grab has scored another huge investment – US$200 million from US travel giant Booking Holdings as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.
Booking Holdings said its investment in Grab was in recognition of the company “as the leading online-to-offline mobile (O2O) mobile platform in South-east Asia.”
The deal will allow users of Booking Holdings brands to hail Grab vehicles through its apps. Grab customers will be able to book accommodations and travel related service through the app and pay with the digital wallet, GrabPay.
Booking Holdings sites include Bookings.com, KAYAK, Agoda.com and Priceline.com. In July, it invested US$500 million in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing.
Singapore-based Grab has raised over US$2 billion for its current round of funding, and is on track to raise over US$3 billion by the end of this year. Earlier this month Microsoft invested an undisclosed amount in the company.
Grab aims to be an everyday super app. (Image credit: Grab)
Grab, which currently operates in 235 cities in eight South-east Asian countries – Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia – aims to become the region’s “everyday super app” offering ride-hailing, food delivery, parcel delivery and digital payments in addition to ride-hailing.
“Grab has scaled impressively across South-east Asia over the last few years, establishing itself as a recognised leader in an increasingly competitive space, and we’re excited to partner with them to build even better travel experiences through technology,” said Todd Henrich, SVP and head of corporate development for Booking Holdings
Ming Maa, president of Grab, added: “We are delighted to work with Booking Holdings to give our users even more everyday services to choose from when they open the Grab app. The online travel market in South-east Asia is set to nearly triple by 2025 and we see numerous synergies between travel and transportation that will allow us to capitalize on this huge opportunity.”
