Tokyo Century Infuses Additional Funds In Grab The strategic partnership will result in overseas expansion of Tokyo Century's automobile business and Grab would now offer new leasing and car rental options
By Nidhi Singh
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From global expansion to funding, there seems to be no stopping for the Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab as its numbers continue to grow. The ride-hailing company recently received an additional strategic investment from financial services company Tokyo Century Corporation, taking the cumulative investment to $175 million. The Japanese company has entered into a binding agreement and also has made the capital investment in Grab's car rental arm, Grab Rentals, in the wake of steady expansion. The strategic partnership will bring new leasing and car rental options for Grab.
The agreement and investment will provide vehicle rental services and solutions to Grab driver-partners in Singapore while Tokyo Century has been offering finance options for automobiles in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia since the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2016. The company will leverage its financial expertise accumulated over many years in Japan through Grab's platform to address increasingly demanding and diverse needs of the ride-hailing industry.
Power of Partnership
With the latest investment, Grab Rentals will further improve its driver-partners' experience by expanding its product offerings including flexible-term rentals and an upcoming electric vehicle fleet. Grab Rentals will also leverage its data and advanced fleet management solutions to improve the safety standards and reliability of its vehicle fleet. Tokyo Century will continue deepening its partnership with Grab to expand its automobile businesses overseas, and to enter new businesses related to ride-hailing and ridesharing service businesses as well as financing business.
On a Fund-raising Spree
The ride-hailing company is on a capital raising spree. Founded in 2012 by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, the Grab offers ride-hailing, ride sharing, and logistics services through its app in Singapore and neighbouring Southeast Asian nations like Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
This year, Grab has raised more than $6 billion investment, with the latest rounds from Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and Toyota Motor Corp. The Japanese automaker Toyota had pumped an investment of $1 billion in the company last year to make use of its disruptive technologies.
Ever since Grab has acquired Southeast Asia operations of global taxi-aggregator Uber Technologies, it has grown rapidly in Southeast Asia market. Earlier this year, Uber sold its Southeast Asia-based business to Grab in exchange of 27.5 per cent stake in the latter.
The Singapore-headquartered company is not just expanding its ride-hailing services but is also tapping other on-demand services to become a consumer-technology group. In a short span of time, Grab has become a regional behemoth operating in about 235 cities in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.
