- The Singapore-based app Grab is set to make its Nasdaq debut on Thursday, December 2.
- In April, Grab agreed to go public in a record-breaking SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth.
- Founded in 2012 as a ride-hailing app, Grab is now the most valuable startup in Southeast Asia.
Grab, the Singapore-based "superapp," is set to make its Nasdaq debut on Thursday, December 2.
The livestreamed bell-ringing ceremony will be held in Singapore at 8:45 a.m. EST, the company said.
In April, Grab agreed to go public in a record-breaking SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth that valued the company at nearly $40 billion. As part of the deal, Grab will receive $4.5 billion in cash, including $4 billion in private investment managed by Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Singapore holding company Temasek, Fidelity, Altimeter, and T. Rowe Price.
The company was initially targeting July for its US listing but delayed in order to review its financial position.
The company describes itself as a "superapp" and offers services ranging from transportation to food deliveries and mobile payments, among others. Grab saw its revenue go up during the pandemic, as people depended on services such as food and grocery deliveries. In 2020, the company posted a gross merchandise volume of $12.5 billion — more than double its 2018 figure.
It is often described as one of the most valuable startup in Southeast Asia.
Among Grab's biggest investors are Softbank, Chinese transport giant Didi Chuxing, and Toyota.
The company launched in 2012 as a ride-hailing app and was once referred to as the "Uber of Southeast Asia" before eventually beating out Uber in the region. According to figures the company released in September this year, it now has almost 25 million monthly transacting users and around 7,000 employees.
Cofounders Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling said they started the company as an alternative to Malaysia's public taxis, which were once ranked among the worst cab service in the world.
Grab now operates in 400 cities across Southeast Asian countries. Hooi Ling previously said that despite the forthcoming Nasdaq listing, the company is not considering a US expansion.
"We're going to stay focused on Southeast Asia because we believe we've really only just scratched the surface of the opportunity here," Hooi Ling told Insider's Candy Cheng in April.
The company is expected to list under the ticker GRAB. No further details of the listing were provided at this stage.