How GGV helped influence Grab’s early entry into payments

GGV Capital is one of Grab’s earlier investors, leading its US$15 million series B round back when the Singapore ride-hailer was still known as GrabTaxi. Around that time, a revolution in the payments ecosystem was taking place in China, where the VC firm mainly operated in.

Grab president Ming Maa during this year’s Tech in Asia conference said that GGV Capital’s managing partner Jixun Foo was one of the most prominent voices within its circle of investors that urged the startup to capitalize on the rapid growth in the payments market.

“Since Jixun really pushed [Grab] four years ago to launch our payments business, we’ve now expanded that to a much broader set of financial services,” said Maa.

Grab president Ming Maa / Photo credit: Grab

This early entry into the payments market appears to have served Grab well in its efforts to become Southeast Asia’s everyday super app. Fintech now plays a huge part in Grab’s ecosystem, as it ties into almost all of the features available on its app.

The launch of GrabPay in 2016 was the entry point. A year later, the company acquired Indonesian online payment startup Kudo.

The expansion came right on time: The total transaction value in Southeast Asia’s digital payments segment reached US$43.8 billion in 2017. This year, it’s expected to reach a total of US$95 billion.

In 2018, the company established Grab Financial, its own fintech unit, to centralize its payment, insurance, and financing offerings. The startup also invested in Indonesian e-wallet Ovo later that year.

One of Grab’s most recent additions to its suite of fintech offerings is its first micro-investment solution AutoInvest. The service allows Singapore users to invest as low as S$1 per transaction made with Grab services to earn returns of about 1.8% per year.

See Also: How Grab’s super-app advantage is reconfiguring insurance for the masses

Grab Financial’s expansion looks to continue, as it’s reportedly aiming to raise up to US$500 million for its fintech unit. This is after Grab banked over US$850 million earlier this year from investors such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

How the GGV-Grab relationship began

When Foo started working at GGV Capital in 2005, the company was focused on China and the innovation in the country.

Jixun Foo, managing partner of GGV Capital / Photo credit: GGV Capital