Update [18 June 2018]:
A spokesperson from Grab has clarified that the ride-sharing company is set to reach US$1 billion in revenue this year, not its annual revenue to date.
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A Chinese publication has reported that Singapore-based ride-sharing giant Grab has crossed US$1 billion in annual revenue.
This was reportedly revealed by Grab’s President, Ming Maa.
Loosely translated, Maa said that Grab is the first mobile travel technology company in Southeast Asia with an annual revenue of US$1 billion, that this year is a key year for the industry, and that acquiring Uber gave them a competitive edge in the region.
However, he told the Chinese reporter that the company is not considered profitable yet, as they are currently heavily investing in financial services and have not thought about “profitability issues”.
The report stated that Uber and China’s Didi Chuxing will be listed in the next two years, to which Maa responded will be “greatly beneficial” to Grab.
This comes after news of Grab being in talks to raise US$1 billion in funds in early May this year, which could value the company at about US$10 billion.
That round would mark its eighth equity raise since its founding in 2012.
In Grab’s financing round in July last year, US$2.5 billion was raised, with Didi and Softbank leading the round. It was said to be the largest single financing in Southeast Asia.
Grab’s game-changing acquisition of Uber in March this year was worth US$1.6 billion and in exchange, Uber held 27.5% shares in Grab.
That move has allowed Grab to expand its business offerings to include food delivery via GrabFood, added features like GrabAssist, e-payments platform GrabPay, and in-car commerce Grab&Go.
In addition to all these services, Grab also has bike-sharing platform GrabCycle, and innovation arm Grab Ventures.
Maa’s disclosure of Grab’s annual revenue comes after Indonesia’s leading transport company, Go-Jek, received “an offer of at least $1 billion of new funding” from investors to expedite its overseas expansion to Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
The investors named are Tencent and Warburg Pincus, according to this article.
Knowing this, I think we can expect Grab to come up with more exciting services in the coming months to keep their lion’s share of the market as existing and upcoming competitors start to gain traction in Singapore and in Southeast Asia.
With that said, not making profitability one of their priorities makes me feel a little uncertain about the future of Grab.
Despite their rapid growth, I still feel like with each ride I take, I am taking a gamble – not knowing whether my GrabRewards points will give me actual benefits – or if it’ll end up being (not literally) pointless.
Featured Image Credit: Grab Singapore
