Ride-hailing Startup Grab Invests In London’s Splyt To Broaden Its ‘Super-App’

Singapore’s Grab, a ride-hailing company, has participated in an $8 million Series A into London’s Splyt Technologies, which aggregates your favorite ride-hailing platforms. The investment will help the “highly fragmented” ride-hailing service for global travellers, both companies said in a statement.

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With Grab’s investment, users could avoid downloading a local ride-hailing app wherever they go and just book a Grab trip through their app-of-choice, hosted by Splyt. Additionally, consumers could book a local ride-hailing app through Grab’s app.

“Grab users travelling beyond Southeast Asia can continue to book rides through the Grab app, and have them fulfilled by Splyt’s partners. Travelers can use their app in their native language, and even pay in their home currency,” the press release reads.

Splyt claims on its company website that it offers ride-hailing transportation in over 2,000 cities. Grab and Splyt currently help international travelers book Grab rides across 336 cities in 8 Southeast Asian countries through their preferred app, it says.

The round is claimed to be the largest Series A funding within the transportation connectivity platform segment, according to both companies. Splyt’s total funding to-date is over $14 million.

While it started as a ride-hailing company, Grab has grown to include food and parcel delivery, payments, and bike rentals. It also expanded its services from Singapore to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. And the self-described super-app has plenty of capital to drive into startups after raising $1.46 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund in an on-going Series H.