Grab Buys Indonesia Shopping Platform to Expand Battle With Uber
(Bloomberg) -- Grab, Uber Technologies Inc.'s biggest rival in Southeast Asia, will acquire Indonesian e-commerce startup Kudo for an undisclosed amount, striking its first deal since pledging to invest $700 million in its largest market.
The purchase is aimed at beefing up payment services while expanding its reach across Southeast Asia's largest country. The Singapore-based ride-hailing firm also announced Monday it's hiring former Euronet Worldwide Inc. executive Jason Thompson to head GrabPay.
Kudo helps consumers without bank accounts to shop online by connecting them with online merchants and other service providers across 500 cities and towns. Grab plans to accelerate the expansion of that network while using Kudo's reach to bring more riders and drivers onto its own platform, it said in a statement. The pair plan to explore new financial services products such as insurance and consumer loans.
Grab, which introduced GrabPay last year, is racing against Indonesian rival Go-Jek to set up digital wallets for riders. It's promised to invest $700 million in Indonesia over the next four years to build its digital payments network and win over a market of 260 million people.Â
Indonesia is Grab's largest market, where the company saw its car- and motorcycle-hailing businesses grow more than 600 percent in 2016. Smartphone and internet penetration is now booming alongside rising incomes and economic growth, igniting competition in ride-hailing.
Grab, which is said to be valued at more than $3 billion, intends to set aside as much as $100 million to bankroll early-stage domestic startups in mobile and financial services. It's now establishing research centers in Jakarta, Bangalore and Ho Chi Minh City to complement engineering offices in Singapore, Beijing and Seattle.
To contact the reporter on this story: Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
-
France's Economy & Politics Are In Crisis | The Reason Why
Let's look at how the French economy and politics evolved under Nicolas Sarkozy, Franois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
-
You May Inherit The Business. You Must Earn Its Credibility.
Succession tests the founder's ability to share authority as much as it tests the next generation's readiness to assume it.
-
Signing Deals Is One Thing; Making Them Work Is Another | The Week In Whys
Sometimes, things don't turn out as planned. Indian companies have lost some bids to rivals, some projects won't produce until 2030.
-
FOMC Wall, PERM Suspension, Hospital Stocks | Talking Points This Week
A PERM suspension would directly affect green-card sponsorship rather than H-1B visas, so the near-term earnings impact could remain relatively limited. The key question is whether this marks a new phase in US scrutiny of Indian IT.
-
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: Dalal Street's Week To Forget | Joining The Dots
Visa curbs, a Starlink spat and cancer drug caps: what connects this week's shocks for Indian markets
-
India Is Going Abroad For Critical Minerals. But It May Take Years To Pay Off | The Reason Why
Although India's steps are in the right direction, they remain modest compared with India's growing dependence.
-
When Everyone Has AI, What Gives You An Edge?
India's young workforce is entering an uncertain world of work where powerful AI tools are becoming widely accessible. The advantage will belong to those who combine deep expertise with digital fluency, and the distinctly human capabilities that technology cannot manufacture.
