The showdown between Grab, Gojek, and every other superapp

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Hello readers,

I gotta say, today’s premium story is pretty apt since two huge stories broke yesterday: Southeast Asian fintech startup Fave got acquired, and Grab is looking to go public in a SPAC deal valued at US$39.6 billion.

Regarding the latter, Grab has also released a press release where it calls itself the leading super app in Southeast Asia – I mean, don’t we all know this already? Before anyone calls me biased, Tech in Asia actually did its homework looking at the front-runners of the super-app race. And guess who’s leading?

Today we look at:

• A chart of who’s leading in the super-app race
• Grab’s SPACtacular move
• Other newsy highlights such as Fave getting acquired and Coupang hiring for top positions in Singapore

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s another super app

Oh, super apps – every company seems to be turning into one. In the region, we have companies Grab, Gojek, and Lazada, plus the newest entrant to the race, Malaysian airline AirAsia, vying for a spot in the club by following a similar strategy: Acquire a ton of users with a core service first, and create many other complementary offerings next.

While this tactic has worked for many of them, which company is actually leading across verticals as well as markets?

• I like ya cut, G: We pitted 11 of the region’s super apps against each other in this chart and found out how wide-reaching ride-hailing giant Grab really is. Not only does it operate in eight Southeast Asian markets, it offers four or more services in three quarters of them.
• The newest kid in the block is not faring that badly, either. The number of services AirAsia currently has is almost comparable with Gojek’s and Lazada’s, operating in verticals including food delivery, digital payments, and ecommerce.
• Shopee is catching up?: The Sea-owned company might not be in the top three for now, but Shopee is slowly catching up with its digital payments (ShopeePay), financing (SPayLater), and food delivery (ShopeeFood) services.

Dive into the charts: The front-runners of Southeast Asia’s super-app race

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

Talking about Grab’s SPACtacular move

We’ve all heard the rumors but it’s now confirmed: Southeast Asian internet titan Grab is going public in the US through a deal with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Altimeter Growth.

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