Ride-Hailing Giant Looks to Grab Indonesian Startups

Singapore-based GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd. has created a venture capital fund to invest in Indonesian startups.

The ride-hailing giant, which claims a 65% market share in Indonesia, plans to invest $250 million in complementary services over the next three years. Grab says it already has started evaluating potential partners that specialize in food delivery, healthcare-related services and digital payment technologies.

Grab recently raised $2 billion in new funding, about half of which came from Toyota Motor Corp. Other investors include Hyundai, DiDi Chuxing and Japan’s SoftBank Group.

Launched in 2012, Grab operates a fleet of motorcycles, taxis, carpooling vehicles and private cars in seven countries. The company’s planned acquisition of Uber’s operations in southeast Asia, which was announced in March, is under review by anti-trust regulators in Singapore.

Indonesian rival Go-Jek, which is battling Grab for dominance in southeast Asia, already has begun adding food delivery and other services. Go-Jek also aims to expand into the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ride-hailing services in southeast Asia are forecasted to nearly quadruple from $5 billion last year to $20 billion by 2025, according to a recent Google-Temasek report.