The ride-hailing firm Grab is set to dominate South East Asia in the coming future. Funds for expansion are not a problem anymore, as the firm expects to raise $2.5 billion for it. Meanwhile, on Uber's side, a Uber driver was having a sexy time which resulted in a customer's complaint. The problem with the absence of a CEO is still lingering in the company.
Grab and its financial support
The China-based Didi Chuxing, China's own Uber-breaker in the mainland market, will invest $2 billion to lead the current financing round. The investment was announced on Monday.
Japan's SoftBank will also give a helping hand for Grab to build their expansion. With Grab's own $500 million of additional fund raising, the total fund that will be available will be about $2.5 Billion and Reuters revealed that the company might be valued at $6 billion after this deal has successfully implemented.
Grab stated that they were currently holding 95 percent of the market share in Southeast Asian nations. Their services include private car, motorcycle, and taxi-hailing. The company has 1.1 million registered drivers. Grab is currently operating in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
With the GrabPay getting attention, the firm is also planning to use technology to make electronic money transfer available for rides.
As a part of the project, Grab bought Kudo, a payment service firm, earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Uber
News about Uber is not always good for either the owners and its customers. When it is not about their execs leaving, it is news about driver behavior and more recently, about an immoral act from a driver. A stylist in Boston named Aner Manuel posted a video to Uber's official Facebook Page about her ride with an Uber driver getting "intimate" with a woman in front of the car.
"As we pulled off the female in the front (who was clearly on drugs) attempted to open the door and could not even sit straight as the vehicle was in motion.She then began to grope him and grab him. They began to kiss and she began loosening his belt." This statement is from Manuel's actual post.
Manuel then asked the driver to drop her off.
She then reported this incident to Uber and received a refund with a $10 credit. Uber is still investigating this incident. Manuel also pointed out how Uber reps have been "extremely bad" at answering her messages.
Uber gave a statement to Gizmodo about this matter. The driver involved was immediately removed from Uber. Uber further stressed that they will not tolerate drivers who are not following company policies.