Grab, a Southeast Asia-based app, has plans for rapid expansion in the region, and an upsized fundraising target of US$6.5 billion to be achieved by the end of this year.

Grab has a commitment to make at least six investments or acquisitions across the region this year. Underpinning Grab’s growth is the backing of SoftBank and other key strategic investors who have invested over US$4.5 billion in Grab’s current Series H round. Last month, Grab secured US$1.46 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund. Grab’s partnership with SoftBank runs deep, and the two companies have been working together since 2014.

Anthony Tan, Grab’s co-founder and CEO says, “The support from strategic investors like SoftBank and others, will allow us to grow very aggressively this year across our verticals of payments, transport and food.”

Ming Maa, president, Grab, says, “In line with the tremendous transformation that Southeast Asia is currently undergoing, the opportunity is ripe for us to further grow in domains like healthcare, financial services amongst others. We are set to make at least six investments or acquisitions this year and raise US$6.5 billion in total capital by the end of the year.”

Grab’s Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018.  Grab has 62% of Indonesia’s ride-hailing market according to ABI Research. GrabFood is growing rapidly in Indonesia, operating in 178 Indonesian cities from 13 at the start of last year, with delivery volumes growing almost 10 times in 2018.

The past year has seen a significant expansion of the Grab ecosystem through partnerships with global players such as Toyota, Hyundai, Microsoft and Mastercard. Grab also inked partnerships with the likes of Thailand’s Central Group and Kasikornbank, Indonesia’s OVO, Bank BTN and Bank Mandiri, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, Philippines’ SM Investment Corporation, Vietnam’s Moca and Malaysia’s Maybank, amongst others.