Grab is making its app available to third-party developers and other startups as the corporate that bought Uber Technologies Inc. in Southeast Asia, is attempting to construct a WeChat-like super app that covers every part from maps and payments to food delivery.
The move underscores the Singaporean company’s newfound ambition to grow to be an “on a regular basis super app” that helps tens of millions of users perform routine tasks, chief executive officer (CEO) Anthony Tan said in an interview. This includes grocery delivery in partnership with regional online grocer HappyFresh, a primary for the startup because it seeks to emulate the success of rival Go-Jek beyond trucking. He added that the brand new services should help Grab reach $1 billion in revenue for the primary time this yr.
The six-year-old startup hopes to recreate China’s tech titans’ deep-rooted connections with consumers. Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat messaging system allows a couple of billion people to order food, hail taxis and make payments. Following in its footsteps might be difficult considering Grab lacks WeChat’s massive user base, which is a giant attraction for third-party developers. But Tan says Grab, recently valued at $6 billion by CB Insights, has its own benefits.
Partners “can leverage our assets to help them grow,” he said. “For us, we will not be all things to all people; “We will focus on everyday services, leveraging our payment and transport infrastructure across the region.”
Grab will launch the improved app for Singapore and Indonesia on Apple devices on July 10 and on Android on July 18, before moving to other countries within the third quarter. Instead of developing a set of in-house apps, Grab is using corporations like Tencent, which invite developers – including big names like McDonald’s and Coach – to design programs that run on their platform.
Tencent’s own “Mini Programs” launched in 2017 and have grow to be a serious driver of traffic and growth for the corporate and the legions of developers who use them. Rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. are pursuing similar efforts. However, unlike China, many Southeast Asian markets remain fragmented. Mobile payments – key to any potential super app – are divided amongst many players, each vying for a bit of the market.
Still, Grab is considered one of the few Southeast Asian apps that has a large geographic reach. It serves over 7 million drivers, agents and sellers spread across 225 cities in eight countries, and its app has been downloaded on over 100 million mobile devices.
“When we have more partners providing everyday services to our users, the more engaged our users will be and we will attract more partners,” he said. “It’s a virtuous growth cycle.”
Grab is moving quickly against Jakarta-based Go-Jek, which began as a bike taxi booking service in 2015 after which moved on to supply greater than a dozen consumer services that allow users to pay bills, order food and buy movie tickets. Separately, Grab said it’s working with Yahoo! to deliver news in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Groceries fit well with the corporate’s super-app ambitions because they account for about 25-30% of household spending in Southeast Asia, HappyFresh CEO Guillem Segarra told reporters in Singapore on Tuesday. He added that his three-year-old startup, backed by investors including Samena Capital and Temasek Holdings Pte’s Vertex Ventures, operates a big supermarket chain with greater than 60 partners.
Source: livemint.com | Grab.com | TechCrunch.com
