Grab Holdings Inc., Southeast Asia’s leading O2O mobile platform, announced Tuesday it has reached an agreement with Toyota Motor Corporation under which Toyota will invest US$1 billion in Grab, as a lead investor in the company’s ongoing financing round.
This investment by Toyota is the largest-ever by an automotive manufacturer in the global ride-hailing sector
As part of the agreement, Grab and Toyota will strengthen and expand their existing collaboration in the area of connected cars, to drive the adoption of new mobility solutions across Southeast Asia, said Grab.
This investment allows Grab to further expand its range of O2O services, such as GrabFood and GrabPay, deeper into the region. Grab operates in 217 cities across eight Southeast Asian countries.
Grab will work with Toyota on how connected car services on the Toyota Mobility Service Platform (MSPF) – such as user-based insurance, financing program and predictive maintenance – could enrich the Grab experience for drivers on the Grab platform.
Grab and Toyota will roll-out connected car services, such as telematics-based insurance, which may reduce the cost of insurance premiums for safer Grab drivers, according to Grab.
“As a global leader in the automotive industry, Toyota’s investment in Grab is based on their conviction in our leadership in driving the adoption of new mobility solutions and expanding O2O mobile services, such as GrabFood and GrabPay, in the region,” said Ming Maa, President of Grab.
“Grab is the first Southeast Asian technology startup to have achieved run rate revenues of over US$1 billion across an installed mobile base of over 100 million users.”
