Japanese automotive company Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to invest $1 billion (748.36 million pounds) in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab as a lead investor in the company’s ongoing financing round, which was launched after it bought the regional business of Uber Technologies Inc.
Toyota’s investment will allow Grab, which counts peer Didi and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp as investors, to further expand its range of online to offline services, such as food delivery and digital payments, deeper into the region.
The company said that by deepening the partnership, it hoped to achieve connectivity for Grab’s rental car fleet across Southeast Asia and offer financing, insurance and maintenance services to drivers based on data collected on its platform. Grab will be valued at just over $10 billion after Toyota’s investment. It also added that with Grab it will develop services that are more attractive, safe and secure for its customers in Southeast Asia.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co and Japan’s Honda Motor Co Ltd have also previously funded Grab, which said it has achieved run-rate revenue of over $1 billion.