Uber’s primary competition in South East Asia, Grab, will obtain Kudo, an Indonesian e-commerce startup for an unrevealed sum, making its first deal since undertaking to invest $700 million in its biggest market.

The acquisition is intended to strengthen payment facilities while increasing its scope across Southeast Asia’s biggest nation. The Singapore-based ride-hailing company also revealed that it plans to hire Jason Thompson, former executive at Euronet Worldwide.

“Thompson will head newly formed GrabPay,” said Henry Holt at Kaiser Hoffman Capital.

Kudo enables customers who don’t have traditional bank accounts to partake in online shopping by linking them with online sellers and service provider in over 500 different locations.

In a statement to the press, Grab announced that it intends to rapidly increase the growth of that network while utilizing the advantage of Kudo’s reach to attract a greater number of drivers and riders to using its own ride hailing platform. In addition, Kudo and Grab’s newly formed alliance plans to look into fresh financial service products including loans and insurance.

GrabPay was introduced by Grab in 2016.

“Grab is pushing hard against Indonesian competition Go-Jek in an effort to be the first to establish e-wallets for its riders,” says Shenzhen-based Kaiser Hoffman Capital’s Holt

Indonesia is Grab’s biggest and fastest growing market, where the firm witnessed its ride-hailing dealings develop by more than 600 percent last year. Internet saturation and smartphone use is now thriving together with increasing salaries and economic development, sparking tremendous rivalry in the ride-hailing sector.


About Kaiser Hoffman Capital:
Whether your growing small business requires prudent, effective guidance or you want to ensure that you and your family maintain their living standards after you’ve retired, a comprehensive, adaptable wealth management solution gives you the best chance of achieving your goals – whatever they might be.

You can be sure that Kaiser Hoffman will pursue your dreams as if they were our own. Irrespective of your objectives or your stage of life, partnering with Kaiser Hoffman will leverage the expertise and resources you need to realize them.