Beyond Grab, GoTo: Southeast Asia’s top ride-hailing competitors

After over a decade, despite Grab’s dominance, the ride-hailing game isn’t over.

Grab, the largest player in the region, generated US$869 million in revenue from its mobility business in 2023, with segment adjusted earnings of US$676 million, a margin of 78%.

In the spirit of Jeff Bezos, who once quipped that “your margin is my opportunity,” new players like InDrive are hoping to steal some business from ride-hailing leaders Grab and Gojek.

Yet, these upstarts should bear in mind the travails faced by previous outsiders. Most notable among these names is ride-hailing pioneer Uber, which tried to build a long-term business in Southeast Asia but ended up exiting the market and selling its business to Grab.

Even a heavyweight like Gojek has found the going tough outside of its home market. The Indonesian tech platform recently announced that it would close its business in Vietnam, where it’s been “struggling.”

In a statement sent to Tech in Asia, Gojek parent GoTo Group said that Vietnam contributed less than 0.5% to the company’s overall gross transaction value (GTV) and 2% to its on-demand services GTV in the second quarter of 2024.

“At GoTo, we will continue to invest in growth, while remaining committed to our adjusted EBITDA breakeven target for 2024,” the firm added. “Singapore is a growing market and also continues to be a key focus area for the company.”

Joining the ride

Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing industry has grown significantly since the early days of Uber, Grab, and Gojek, and so has investor interest in the space.

Since 2014, ride-hailing startups based in the region had collectively raised US$22.3 billion in funding, with most of that amount coming between 2018 and 2021. But as the landscape matured and bleak economic conditions hit the tech ecosystem, funding rounds started to taper off in 2022.

Nevertheless, as the region’s middle-class population continues to grow, Southeast Asia is likely to continue attracting new entrants in the ride-hailing sector, with intense competition also raising the potential for mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.

An example of the latter is Gojek’s partnership with Singapore’s largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro, which was first announced in 2022.

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