Grab raises over US$850 million from Japanese investors

Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super app, has announced today an investment of over US$850 million from Japanese investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (‘MUFG’) and TIS Inc. (“TIS”), that will go toward creating accessible and affordable financial services for Southeast Asia in order to boost financial inclusion in the region.

MUFG, one of the world’s largest financial institutions and the largest bank in Japan, will invest US$706 million into Grab while TIS, the leading provider of network solutions and system integration services, will invest US$150 million. 

This latest fundraising from Japanese investors comes off the back of Grab’s rapid growth in 2019 where the company established itself as the leading ride-hailing, food delivery and digital payments provider in Southeast Asia. Grab Financial Group (GFG) has also expanded rapidly in 2019, with the addition of financial services products like consumer insurance and lending. GFG has also applied for a digibank licence in Singapore and launched GrabInvest, its wealth management solution. (More details on GFG business below.)

Speaking on the investment and partnerships, Ming Maa, President, Grab said, “We are excited to work with our partners MUFG and TIS to co-develop financial products and solutions for the region. Ensuring greater access to affordable and accessible financial services and products is key to growing financial inclusion in Southeast Asia. The continued support from world-leading investors demonstrates their confidence in Grab’s super app strategy and our ability to build a sustainable long-term business.”

Under the partnership with MUFG, both the companies will co-develop next generation financial products and services based on our combined customer insights to better cater to the financial needs of Grab’s users, driver-partners and merchant-partners.

As part of the agreement between Grab and TIS, both of the companies will collaborate on enhancing the digital payment infrastructure in the region and in Japan to enable greater adoption of cashless payment options, such as GrabPay. Both companies will also collaborate on developing emerging payment technologies.