Grab invests in start-ups in farming to shared kitchens to grow its super-app
- Grab is putting a second batch of 10 start-ups through a 16-week programme
- The start-ups will be able to test whether there is a market for their services
Want to know what new businesses Grab is thinking of going into next? Look at what start-ups they are investing in or helping to build.
When Anthony Tan, co-founder and chief executive of the Singapore-based firm stood onstage a year ago at a conference in Singapore to announce the creation of a venture capital arm, he called it a “pay it forward” moment.
The idea was to use the platform as a “launch pad” for start-ups in the region and to “mentor and share the huge mistakes that we have made so that you don’t have to,” he said.
One year hence, Grab Ventures have integrated services by start-ups like Helpling, an online home-services platform, an online-ticketing service in Indonesia called BookMyShow, and Sejasa, a home improvement and maintenance services marketplace into the Grab platform.
The venture arm just began its second batch of start-ups for its Velocity programme, where it is putting 10 firms in the “scale-up stage” through a 16-week boot camp where their services and products will be tested out on the Grab platform as “proof of concept, according to Chris Yeo, head of Grab Ventures.
Whereas the first batch focused on consumer-facing businesses, the current crop of start-ups in the programme are focused on farmers and small businesses.
