Grab lands $50M from Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank to further its fintech push
Southeast Asia ride-hailing firm Grab is continuing to add strategic investors to its ongoing Series H round — which is targeted at over $3 billion — after it revealed Thai bank Kasikorn put in $50 million as part of a strategic partnership to advance its financial services strategy. Kasikorn joins Hyundai ($250 million) , Microsoft (undisclosed) and travel firm Booking ($200 million) as strategic backers announced over the past month. The round also includes Toyota, which invested $1 billion in its largest ride-hailing deal to date , and institutional investors OppenheimerFunds, Ping An Capital, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Macquarie Capital. In the case of Kasikorn, Grab is working with the bank to roll out its GrabPay payment service in Thailand, a country with over 60 million people, as it begins to truly take steps to become a fintech player, in addition to ride-hailing. (Left to right) Reuben Lai, senior MD of Grab Financial, and Kasikorn...