Singapore-based transport company Grab recently made headlines when it was valued at a record $40 billion after it went public through a Special Purpose Acquisitions Company (SPAC) in April.

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The company, which started as a ride-sharing app in Malaysia, has seen a phenomenal rise in recent years. It has emerged as a leading super app in South East Asia.

Grab's rise and rise

The app was launched as MyTeksi in 2012, promising to make taxi rides safer and convenient for Malaysians. In 2018, the company drove out Uber from the South East Asian market and acquired the competitor’s business.

In the same year, Grab started its food and grocery delivery services. As the company grew in usage, it had to deal with the problem of its new drivers and partners having no bank accounts.

The South East Asian population is either underserved or has no bank service at all. So Grab decided to venture into the informal lending economy. The company already had gained experience over the past six years in setting up loans, bank accounts and compliance papers for its partners and drivers.

Currently, Grab offers financial services that include insurances, mutual funds and an online payment portal. The company's vision was to foray into the vast regional market by fractionalizing the cost of financial products, thus making them more palatable for local buyers. The company had sold over 100 million insurance policies in the region by February of 2021.

"The super app concept is somewhat foreign to many US investors, but the way some of our investors and consumers think of us is the best of DoorDash, the best of Uber and the best of Ant Group. It's absolutely unique," Ming Maa, Grab's president told the Post.

Partners and plans

The company, in partnership with Singtel, managed to acquire a banking licence in Singapore and is pursuing virtual banking licences in the region as well. Grab will be looking to leverage the $4 billion infusion of cash that it received through the SPAC merger against larger incumbent banks like DBS and HSBC.

The company is also looking to further diversify its services from fraud detection to targeted advertising.

(Edited by : Shoma)

First Published:May 3, 2021 8:18 PM IST