GrabTaxi CEO reveals huge recruitment drive at new $100M R&D center

GrabTaxi, the taxi booking app that started in a small room in Malaysia in 2011, has come a long way. From barely having a ceiling fan and no internet except mobile, as co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan says, the company is now inaugurating its brand new space devoted to R&D right in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District.

The new 45,000 sq. ft. facility is supposed to eventually house 200 engineers and data scientists, carrying an investment of US$100 million over the next few years, according to Tan.

It’s all part of the company’s rapid growth during the last 34 months. Tan claims GrabTaxi has seen a ten-fold increase in bookings in that time with approximately seven bookings per second. It did two bookings a second last October. The GrabTaxi app has been downloaded on more than 3.8 million mobile devices to date (although the number of active users was not revealed). More than 75,000 taxi drivers are registered with the service, which operates in 20 cities across six countries.

This kind of growth is key to building “a world-class company with Southeast Asian values,” as Tan puts it. The company hopes to start attracting top-tier talent to Singapore, be it locals or foreigners, and “give them the chance to be a part of this place.”

From L to R: GrabTaxi’s Anthony Tan, Wei Zhu, and Kevin Lee speak at the company’s new R&D center launch event. (Image credit: GrabTaxi Singapore)

Three major factors contributed to choosing Singapore for the new facility, according to Tan: “One, Singapore is a super-conducive environment. Two, there are lots of talented people here [who usually leave Southeast Asia to join companies in the US or Western Europe]. And three, Singapore is a hub in Southeast Asia.”

Tan claims the company could well have established a base in Silicon Valley, but preferred Singapore, both because he wants GrabTaxi to “stay true to Southeast Asian values”, but also because Southeast Asia is still a place with problems that need solving. “Southeast Asia will be recognized as a major hub where global talent can live and thrive,” he stresses.

Hitching a ride

GrabTaxi is looking for top talent like software engineers, data scientists, coders, product managers, product designers, even hackers. For starters, it has managed to gather some pretty big names from around the tech and business world.

Besides new CTO Wei Zhu (who recently joined the company after heading the development of Facebook Connect), the company has brought over Palantir Technologies’ Kevin Lee as VP of data and growth, Amazon’s Arul Kumaravel as VP of engineering, and Tan Hooi Ling, an original co-founder of GrabTaxi, who is rejoining the company after a two-year stint at US company Salesforce.

“GrabTaxi [right now] reminds me of how Facebook was in 2006-7,” Zhu said, speaking at the event. Coming aboard, he wants to help the company scale and grow by building “a team that can rival the [Silicon] Valley companies.”

To that end, GrabTaxi is going into a recruiting frenzy, with Zhu calling for talent from all over the world to take a look at the opportunities offered within the company. It will go so far as flying in shortlisted applicants to check out the facilities for themselves (as well as the surrounding area of downtown Singapore, presumably).

Lee, a Stanford-educated computer scientist with experience at Palantir Technologies as well as the Singaporean government, stressed what he called the mission-driven culture he adheres to, which also attracted him to GrabTaxi.

GrabTaxi is actively recruiting to staff up its new Singapore R&D center.
(Image credit: GrabTaxi Singapore)

GrabTaxi’s mission, which Tan defined as making the taxi experience safe and practical for both passengers and drivers, resonated with Lee. He will be heading the R&D center’s data team, which will use data science and analytics to better match drivers and passengers and look into things like relieving peak hours pressure.

The company did not offer specific examples of how the R&D center will contribute to GrabTaxi’s growth. The emphasis on software engineers and data scientists does suggest development of new tools, possible expansion of app and service features, and staff management, but nothing is confirmed. What is certain is that the new initiative will be at the forefront of the company’s strategy going forward.

As GrabTaxi ramps up its recruiting and staffs up its new R&D facility, Tan reiterates what he refers to as the company’s commitment: “To grow even faster… and to make Southeast Asians proud.”

See more: GrabTaxi’s journey to a billion-dollar startup (INFOGRAPHIC)