Singapore ride-hailing and ride-sharing company GrabTaxi Holdings announced that it has raised a $50 million strategic investment from Thai lender KASIKORNBANK (KBank), at the same time, marking the entry of Grab’s payment arm into the Thai market.
Grab Financial has secured an electronic money license in Thailand and is officially now covering six key Southeast Asia markets Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.
The round is part of a $3 billion ongoing funding round that Grab is seeking to close by year-end. It has raised over $2.7 billion so far, having just raised $250 million from automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors on November 7.
KBank and Grab will jointly launch the GrabPay by KBank mobile wallet in the Grab application which is targeted to launch as soon as early 2019.