Grab boss Antony Tan is overseeing the startup’s bloody battle against Uber. Photo credit: Grab.
At a star-studded press conference today, Southeast Asian ride-hailing startup Grab announced its plans to allocate US$700 million into a “2020 master plan” for Indonesia.
Over the next four years, the company pledges to invest heavily into R&D as well as tech talent development.
Grab wants to hire 150 engineers over the next two years, and set up a US$100 million fund for investing in startups focusing on social issues, like financial inclusion, among other targets.
US$700 million is a massive commitment – it’s almost the entire amount Grab raised in a round led by Japan’s SoftBank last year.
The event in Jakarta, where Grab CEO Anthony Tan made the announcement, was attended by a number of ministers, as well as the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chief of Indonesia’s foreign investment coordinating board.
The company claims to have more than 630,000 drivers and 33 million downloads across the region. Indonesia is its largest market.
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