South-East Asian super-app based in Singapore. Grab began in ride-hailing, then expanded into food delivery, digital payments and more. It listed in December 2021 at a market value of $40bn, which plunged to just over a quarter of that within a year as investors lost patience with persistent losses. By mid-2025 its value had recovered to $23bn after posting three consecutive quarters of net profits.
Grab's consumer-loan portfolio stood at $566m in the first quarter of 2025, growing by half year on year. Fintech accounts for 10% of its revenue and the company is planning a big push in 2026. It builds credit profiles by blending transaction data from its drivers, riders, merchants and e-wallet users with third-party data, taking advantage of the shabby state of credit reporting in much of South-East Asia.
Grab muscled out foreign ride-hailing rivals such as Uber from most South-East Asian markets, but still faces stiff competition from GoTo in Indonesia, where the two split the ride-hailing market roughly in half. Grab controls around four-fifths of ride-hailing and two-thirds of food delivery across the wider region, though Sea Limited's Shopee is making inroads in food delivery.
Rumours of a merger with GoTo have swirled since 2025. In June 2025 Grab fed the speculation with a $1.5bn issuance of convertible bonds, the uses of which "may include potential acquisitions". A combined entity would be the region's second-largest tech company after Sea Limited. The deal has become mired in Indonesian politics, with tens of thousands of drivers protesting against what they call a "monopoly practice" and officials demanding guarantees for drivers and a significant local stake in the merged entity.
Best of all is never to have been born. Second best is to die soon.