SoftBank-backed ride-hailing startup Grab is reportedly raising $200 million from private equity firm

The last time we wrote about Grab was back in February 2010 when Mitsubishi invested over $700 million in ride-hailing startup Grab. At the time, Grab had raised a total of $9.1 billion in funding over 29 rounds. Before then, Grab’s last funding was back on Nov. 9, 2019 from a Secondary Market round.

Today, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the SoftBank-Backed Grab is raising another $200 million from South Korean private equity firm Stic Investments Inc. According to Bloomberg, the Seoul-based Stic Investments is looking to increase its exposure to the region and will invest about $100 million from one of its funds while raising the remainder from co-investors, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Representatives of Grab and Stic declined to comment.

Founded in 2012 by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, the Singapore-based Grab is a ride-hailing platform that offers booking service for taxis, private cars, and motorbikes through one mobile. Grab offers a wide range of services through one mobile app and has been driving Southeast Asia forward since 2012. Grab’s major investors include Softbank, Uber, and Didi Chuxing.

In March 2019, Grab raised $1.46 billion investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund at $14 billion valuation. To date, Grab has raised more than $10 billion to date including about $3 billion from SoftBank Group Corp. It’s currently valued at $14.3 billion, according to CB Insights.

Grab is making transport freedom a reality in eight countries across the region. From simple taxi services to now private car services (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike), last mile delivery (GrabExpress), ride sharing (GrabShare), and food delivery (GrabFood), Grab  offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Even with devastating effective of coronavirus has had on consumer businesses, Grab has been able to raise money to continue funding its ride-hailing, food delivery and digital financial services. The Singapore-based startup is among the most richly financed tech startups in Southeast Asia, according to Bloomberg.