Grab to invest 'significant portion' of US$2bn funding into Indonesia

Grab will use a significant portion of its US$2 billion proceeds from its current round of financing to bolster its investments in Indonesia, targeting over 7.1 million micro-entrepreneurs that use its platform. Currently, more than half of the micro-entrepreneurs on its platform resides in Indonesia, a statement read.The latest round of financing follows Toyota’s US$1 billion investments into the mobile platform earlier this year. This saw Toyota joining global financial institutions, such as OppenheimerFunds and Vulcan Capital, in investing in Grab as it looked to be the leading technology player in the region.The move also adds on to Grab's recent strides in Indonesia, which includes a partnership with local wallet and rewards programme, OVO to build a mobile payments ecosystem. The company also recently expanded its GrabFood business in the market, expanding from Jakarta to serve 28 cities and towns across Indonesia. Similarly, GrabExpress GMV in Indonesia has more than doubled in the first half of 2018, the statement added.Grab will also be using the funds to expand the range of O2O it provides in Southeast Asia in a bid to become "the everyday super app of choice for millions in the region"."We are honoured to welcome these top-tier financial institutions into our roster of strategic investors and partners. Grab is today the industry-changing O2O platform that enables millions of consumers and entrepreneurs to come online and drive the digital economy in Southeast Asia," Ming Maa, president of Grab, said.He added that the company has seen "overwhelming interest" from global strategic investors and partners who are keen to partner with Grab to capture the region’s booming growth.Read also:Grab creates news feed, strikes content partnership with YahooGrab Indonesia strikes partnership with PRIMKOPAUGrab brings GrabFood service to 3 Indonesia citiesGrab expands services to Indonesia city Ambon