As Airbnb gears up for its big leap into the public markets, it’s expanding its accommodations platform to include more than just treehouses and quirky homes. Today, the company has confirmed its intent to acquire HotelTonight, the developer of a hotel-booking application that lets travelers arrange last-minute accommodations. The deal was previously reported by The… Continue reading Airbnb agrees to acquire last-minute hotel-booking app HotelTonight
Tag: Uber
Google to sell car tech it fought Uber on
Google spin-off Waymo plans to sell the sensors it uses on its self-drive cars to other industries. The technology behind them was at the heart of legal action last year, with Google accusing taxi app company Uber of stealing trade secrets. In a blogpost, Waymo said it was targeting its Lidar (light detection and ranging)… Continue reading Google to sell car tech it fought Uber on
Taxify rebrands as Bolt to expand its transport options beyond private cars
Taxify, the ride-hailing company from Estonia backed by Didi and Daimler and now active in 30 countries, is making a key shift in its business today as it gears up for its next stage of growth. The company is removing “taxi” from its name and rebranding as Bolt, the same name that it has been… Continue reading Taxify rebrands as Bolt to expand its transport options beyond private cars
Waymo to start selling standalone LiDAR sensors
Waymo, the Google self-driving project that spun out to become a business under Alphabet, will start selling its custom LiDAR sensors — the technology that was at the heart of a trade secrets lawsuit last year against Uber. The company announced Wednesday in a blog post that it will sell is light detection and ranging… Continue reading Waymo to start selling standalone LiDAR sensors
Spain’s Cabify returns to Barcelona under new restrictions
MADRID, March 6 (Reuters) – Spanish ride-hailing service Cabify said on Wednesday it will return to the northeastern city of Barcelona on Thursday but will operate under strict new regulations after the local government caved in to the demands of striking taxi drivers. In January, taxi drivers in Barcelona and Madrid shut down services and… Continue reading Spain’s Cabify returns to Barcelona under new restrictions
Uber ‘not liable’ for self-driving death
Uber will not face criminal charges for a fatal crash involving one of its self-driving cars. Prosecutors have ruled that the company is not criminally liable for the death of Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was struck as she crossed a road in Tempe, Arizona. The car’s back-up driver could still face criminal charges. A police… Continue reading Uber ‘not liable’ for self-driving death
Uber not responsible for fatal accident
After the fatal accident with an Uber vehicle is now clear, Uber was not to blame. in the March last year Overrun an Autonomous Test Car from Over a woman on a street in Tempe in the US state Arizona, There followed a media outcry based on the motto that people knew that the technology… Continue reading Uber not responsible for fatal accident
Prosecutors find Uber not criminally liable in 2018 Arizona self-driving crash that killed a pedestrian
Yavapai County prosecutors said today that Uber is not criminally liable in a crash last year when one of its self-driving cars fatally struck a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. The autonomous SUV, which had a backup driver behind the wheel, collided with Elaine Herzberg while she was walking across the street. She later died as… Continue reading Prosecutors find Uber not criminally liable in 2018 Arizona self-driving crash that killed a pedestrian
Fleets are the way towards popularisation of electric vehicles: Anand Mahindra
By Munish Shekhavat Geneva: For Mahindra group, from whose stable electric luxury supercar Battista is being rolled out, the path to mass adoption of electric vehicles will be through fleet such as Ola, according to the group’s Chairman Anand Mahindra. At present electric vehicles (EVs) are out of reach of price sensitive buyers, specially in… Continue reading Fleets are the way towards popularisation of electric vehicles: Anand Mahindra
Grab is now valued at $14 billion after landing $1.46 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Brent Lewin | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Grab logo is displayed on a taxi in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 9, 2018.
Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab said Wednesday it has secured $1.46 billion in new funds from the SoftBank Vision Fund.
In its current funding round, Grab has raised more than $4.5 billion with investments from car makers Toyota and Hyundai Motor, tech giant Microsoft, China's Ping An Capital and U.S.-based asset management company OppenheimerFunds.
Following the fresh financing from the Vision Fund, Grab's valuation now stands at $14 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Grab President Ming Maa said in a statement the company has seen “overwhelming shareholder support in our current fundraising round, with strong interest both in terms of capital invested and the quality of strategic partners.”
He added Grab continues to “receive new investor interest” and that it looks forward to “welcoming more global industry leaders as partners in 2019.”
The current funding round started after U.S. ride sharing giant Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab and acquired a 27.5 percent stake in the business, according to Reuters.
Grab said it plans to use the funds to build more everyday services onto its platform and expand its presence in financial services, food delivery, parcel delivery, content and digital payments.
“This investment will help the company explore exciting new opportunities across on-demand mobility, delivery and financial services as it continues to grow its offline-to-online platform across Southeast Asia,” David Thevenon, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said in a statement.
While Grab started out with ride-hailing, the start-up has over time introduced many services including food and grocery delivery, mobile payment, and micro-lending to the unbanked or underbanked in Southeast Asia. Earlier this year, the company said it struck a partnership with regional video streaming start-up Hooq that will allow users to stream movies and TV shows on the Grab app.
The idea of bundling multiple services inside a single app stems from the fact that users tend to use only a handful of applications everyday, even if they might have hundreds of apps downloaded onto their smartphones.
Last year, Grab said it was forming a joint venture company with Chinese health care services platform Ping An Good Doctor to provide integrated medical services including artificial intelligence-assisted online consultations, appointment bookings and medicine delivery.