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Uber's Southeast Asian partner Grab gets $1.4B boost

By Nicholas Sakelaris
Grab, a Southeast Asia ride-hailing company partnered with Uber, said it's received a major cash infusion during its latest round of fundraising. Photo by Jon Russell/Flickr
Grab, a Southeast Asia ride-hailing company partnered with Uber, said it's received a major cash infusion during its latest round of fundraising. Photo by Jon Russell/Flickr

March 6 (UPI) -- A Southeast Asia ride-share partner of Uber has received a major round of funding, as the U.S. company avoids charges in the death of an Arizona woman last year.

Grab, Uber's ride-hailing partner in the region, said it's received nearly $1.5 billion in new funding from Softbank. As a result, Grab Holdings has now raised more than $4.5 billion in the latest fundraising window -- which includes cash infusions from Toyota, Oppenheimer Funds, Hyundai, Booking Holdings, Microsoft, Ping An Capital and Yamaha.

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Grab said the new investment will fuel growth with more food and package delivery, content and digital payments and financial services. The company's Grab Platform is being billed as a "super app."

Uber has long considered Southeast Asia a key market, making its partnership with Grab a critical one. Grab is based in Singapore and serves markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. Grab said it plans to significantly invest in Indonesia, where it's already the leader in on-demand transport and the second-largest food deliverer.

Last year, Uber exited Southeast Asia and took a large stake in Grab Holdings. From March to December, Grab almost doubled its revenue. Grabfood is now in six countries and 199 cities.

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The new investment came one day after Uber avoided facing charges in the death of an Arizona woman last year. Elaine Herzberg, 49, was struck and killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle in Tempe in March 2018. Investigators said later the onboard human monitor failed to take action to avoid the collision.

Prosecutors said they didn't find evidence to support criminal charges against the ride-share giant, but added the human operator in the vehicle can be charged. Authorities said she was watching a program on a mobile device at the time of the accident.

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