Singapore-based ride-hailing major Grab has raised $200 million funding from Booking.com parent company, Booking Holdings, said the startup in an announcement on Monday.
As part of the deal, brands under NASDAQ-listed Booking Holdings will soon be offering on-demand transport services through their apps, powered by Grab, and Grab users will be able to book accommodations through the app and make payments via its digital wallet, GrabPay.
The investment is part of a $3-billion ongoing funding round that Grab looks to raise by year-end. It has raised over $2-billion so far, from Toyota, Microsoft, OppenheimerFunds, Lightspeed Ventures Partners and Macquarie Capital.
“Grab has scaled impressively across Southeast Asia over the last few years, establishing itself as a recognised leader in an increasingly competitive space, and we’re excited to partner with them to build even better travel experiences through technology,” said Booking Holdings senior vice president and head of corporate development Todd Henrich.
Grab said, the partnership highlights the startup’s commitment to becoming the region’s leading super app, with its services spanning ride-hailing, food delivery, parcel delivery and digital payments.
“The online travel market in Southeast Asia is set to nearly triple by 2025 and we see numerous synergies between travel and transportation that will allow us to capitalize on this huge opportunity. As a global travel leader, Booking’s investment into Grab is a vote of confidence in our continued ability to execute and expand into different O2O verticals, and roll them out across the 235 cities in which we operate,” said Grab president Ming Maa.
Booking Holdings owns and operates popular travel booking sites including Bookings.com, Agoda.com, KAYAK and Priceline.com. The Grab deal is similar to Booking Holdings’ $500-million investment in one of Grab’s investor, Didi Chuxing, in July this year. As part of that deal, Booking will integrate Didi’s services into its apps.
The strategic partnership with Booking Holdings follows Grab’s recently-announced Mastercard partnership, which will see the ride-hailing major issuing prepaid cards to its users beginning 2019. Maa had earlier noted that there will be more partnerships in the months to come, as part of its effort to deepen and widen its areas of expertise.
Grab’s rival, Indonesia-based Go-Jek, is gearing up on its international expansion plans, where Singapore – Grab’s headquarters – is touted as the next expansion destination for Go-Jek following its launch in Vietnam last month.
Go-Jek has announced the launch of a portal in Singapore through which drivers can pre-register to use its platform. The startup is reportedly in talks to raise at least $2 billion to boost its international foray.
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