How this SG car rental firm leveraged Grab to rev up profits

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Hi readers,

My wife and I recently moved to the city, moving almost everything from our old apartment in our quiet university town. One thing we didn’t bring was our car, which we opted to keep in my hometown. We won’t need it all the time anyway, and we can save on parking fees.

A seemingly infinite number of cars are available (but not during rush hours) for hire here through platforms like Grab. While some Grab drivers use their own vehicles, a lot of them rent out the cars they drive.

Companies like Lumens prove that leasing out cars to Grab drivers can be a profitable endeavor. The Singapore-based business started small, having just four cars to its name. That number has since grown to over 3,000, riding on the coattails of the ride-hailing sector’s success in the city-state.

This growth also sprouted into other businesses for Lumens. For example, the company expanded to offer concierge services through the Lylo brand.

However, Grab is also in this private-hire vehicle leasing race – and it’s not letting off the gas pedal. Last year, the company announced its acquisition of Trans-Cab, which not only gave it access to more than 2,200 taxis, but 300 private-hire vehicles as well.

As competition seems to be heating up, be sure to check back for more updates.

— Miguel Cordon, journalist at Tech in Asia

Top stories this week

Image credit: Timmy Loen

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Lumens founders Ryan Tan and Kuanyu Tan bootstrapped the company in 2014 with a fleet of just four cars, which has grown to over 3,000 so far.

2. Did Tokopedia waste its potential?
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3. Mapping the players in Southeast Asia’s expanding ecommerce basket
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4. Why eSIMs could be the next startup goldmine
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