Grab started in Malaysia — so why is it seen as a Singapore product?

SINGAPORE: A viral exchange between a Grab driver and a Malaysian passenger has reignited debate over whether Grab is a Singapore or Malaysian product.

The Grab uncle claimed the brand is a “Singapore product”, while the Malaysian passenger simply smiled, thinking: Grab actually started in Malaysia.

Both are technically right — but why is a brand that started in Malaysia better known as a product of the little red dot across the causeway?

A look at Grab’s About Us page shows that the company began in 2012 with what it described as a “humble idea” meant to prioritise safe taxi rides in Malaysia. Back then, it was known as MyTeksi.

Grab was co-founded by Malaysian-born Harvard Business School classmates Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, who are now both Singapore citizens.

In October 2013, the company expanded into Singapore. That move came even as Grab was entering Thailand and the Philippines, before pushing further into Vietnam and Indonesia the following year.

As Grab went looking for investors, it turned first to Malaysia. In 2015, the company applied to Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad for a US$10 million (S$12.7 million) grant. The deal, however, did not materialise after lengthy internal checks and processes by the fund, according to The Vibe.

Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, with far deeper pockets, however, was willing to take the risk and agreed to back MyTeksi, prompting the company’s founders to set up its headquarters in Singapore that same year.

A year later, MyTeksi officially rebranded as Grab and later merged with Uber in 2018.

Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng told The Vibe that while many may have seen this as a “missed opportunity for Khazanah”, the fund may simply have been unwilling to take “undue risk” at the time.

Perhaps, this is also the reason why the brand is better known as a Singapore product, as Temasek’s investment helped springboard Grab into the Southeast Asian superapp it is today. /TISG

Read also: Grab acquires Beijing start-up Infermove in AI-enabled food delivery push

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