My God, Grab has a lot of money.
The Singapore-based ride-hailing startup raised more than $856 million from strategic Japanese investors including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and TIS.
The money will come as two separate capital infusions. First, MUFG, which is the largest bank in Japan, will invest $706 million into Grab to co-develop financial products. MUFG will also get “First Choice Bank” status, which means that Grab can use its financial services when it needs a banking partnership in countries where MUFG operates.
TIS, a provider of network solutions and system integration services, will invest the remaining $150 million. Grab and TIS plan to collaborate on “enhancing the digital payment infrastructure in Southeast Asia and in Japan to enable greater adoption of cashless payment options.” In other words, they’ll focus on improving GrabPay, which is the company’s mobile wallet that allows users to pay for Grab services.
“Digital payments are taking off in Southeast Asia, as it caters to a largely mobile yet underbanked population,” said Grab president Ming Maa in a news release. “We need to create better experiences to pay for daily transactions.”
In 2019, Grab announced a whopping $6.5 billion in Series H funding at a valuation that hovered around $14 billion, making it Southeast Asia’s most valuable unicorn. Grab did not disclose its most recent valuation after the latest funding.
There have been rumors that Grab was in talks to merge with its rival Go-Jek, the Southeast Asian on-demand transport startup. (Go-Jek has denied reports of a potential merger.)
To better understand Grab’s strategy and find out why it continues to raise so much money, I encourage you to read my colleague Clay Chandler’s excellent feature on its “super-app model.” He writes:
“How to create a super-app for millions of consumers who have never even seen a credit card? Go-Jek and Grab have used the Internet and smartphones ingeniously to create armies of mobile tellers. Car and motorbike drivers collect cash and credit it to customers’ digital wallets. They toil alongside neighborhood agents who, in addition to topping up the wallets, help consumers who lack bank accounts purchase goods online, pay bills, buy insurance, or apply for loans.”
MO’ MONEY: Fintech startup Revolut has raised $500 million in venture funding at a $5.5 billion valuation, which is three times the valuation of its last fundraising round in 2018. TCV led the round, and previous investors included DST Global, Index Ventures, and Balderton Capital.
Revolut is building a financial service to replace traditional bank accounts, and it will use the fresh infusion of cash to improve product features and plans to expand to the United States in the coming months.
Fintech companies have been on a tear lately. Earlier this month, Starling Bank raised £60 million ($77.8 million) in funding, and Monzo and Monese are reportedly both in talks to raise up to £100 million ($129 million).
Howard Lindzon, an early-stage investor who backs fintech companies, wrote a blog post yesterday titled, “Is This a Fintech Bubble?” He writes, “I think we are in a fintech bubble. I am not sure if we topped for now or a big acceleration is at hand.” He explains that there is a multiplier of “fresh” fintech money being unleashed on a world that will push valuations even higher.
Meanwhile, Intuit just confirmed that it will pay a whopping $7.1 billion in cash and stock to acquire Credit Karma, a San Francisco-based fintech provider of consumer credit score checks.
Keep your eye on the fintech sector because I have a feeling dealmaking will not be slowing down in the near future.
Polina Marinova
Twitter: @polina_marinova
Email: polina.marinova@fortune.com
VENTURE DEALS
- ServiceMax, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of cloud-based field service solutions, raised $80 million in funding. Salesforce Ventures and Silver Lake led the round.
- Molekule, a San Francisco-based maker of an air purifier, raised $58 million in Series C funding. RPS Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Founder’s Circle Capital, Foundry Group, Crosslink Capital, Uncork Capital, TransLink Capital, and Inventec Appliances Corp.
- Ripcord, a Hayward, Calif.-based robotics digitization company, raised $45 million in Series B2 funding. CDK Global (Nasdaq: CDK) led the round, and was joined by investors including Kleiner Perkins, GV, Steve Wozniak, Silicon Valley Bank, Lux Capital, Tyche Partners, Icon Ventures and Baidu.
- Laiye Technology, a China-based developer of software for robotic process automation, raised $42 million in Series C funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lightspeed China Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Cathay Innovation and Wu Capital.
- Aria CV, Inc, a St. Paul, Minn.-based developer of medical devices treating Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, raised $31 million in Series B funding. Xeraya Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Longview Ventures, Catalyst Health Ventures, BioStar Ventures, Cedar Point Capital, and Frontcourt Group.
- L1ght, an Israel-based anti-toxicity startup using AI to detect and filter harmful online content to protect children, raised $15 million in seed funding. Mangrove Capital Partners and Tribeca Venture Partners co-led the round, and were joined by investors including Western Technology Investment.
- MycoWorks, a San Francisco-based maker of leather material grown from mycelium and agricultural byproducts, raised $17 million in Series A funding. DCVC Bio led the round, and was joined by investors including Novo Holdings and 8VC, as well as Future Tech Labs, AgFunder, Susa Ventures, Cthulhu Ventures, and Wireframe Ventures.
- CoolBitX, a Taiwan-based blockchain security company, raised $16.75 million in Series B funding round. SBI Holdings led the round.
- Lucy Goods, a Los Angeles-based maker of nicotine products, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Investors include Vice Ventures.
- Pipe, a Los Angeles-based financing platform for SaaS companies, raised $6 million in seed funding. Craft Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Fika Ventures, MaC Ventures, Naval Ravikant, WorkLife Ventures, Liquid2 and The Weekend Fund.
- Revl, a San Francisco-based camera and AI-powered video editing company, raised $5.5 million in Series A funding. Nimble Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Tuesday Capital, Silicon Valley Data Capital and Luma Pictures.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
- Water Street Healthcare Partners agreed to invest in Solvias AG, a Switzerland-based independent pharmaceutical laboratory platform. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Align Capital Partners recapitalized Marco Rubber & Plastics, a technology-enabled, specialty distributor of elastomer components, including O-rings, gaskets, and other high-performance seals and products. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Small World Financial Services, a company backed by Equistone Partners Europe, acquired MoneyGlobe, a France-based international payments company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
IPOs
- Big Hit Entertainment, the firm behind South Korean boy band BTS, is seeking to raise nearly $1 billion in the country. Read more.
EXITS
- 3Gtms, a portfolio company of Sumeru Equity Partners, acquired Pacejet, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of enterprise cloud-based shipping software. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Pacejet had raised more than $8 million in venture funding from investors including Plymouth Growth Partners and Athenian Venture Partners.
- Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSOD) agreed to acquire Saba, a Redwood Shores, Calif.-based talent experience solutions, from Vector Capital. The cash and stock transaction is valued at approximately $1.4 billion.
- Mondelēz International agreed to acquire a significant majority interest in Give & Go, a Canada-based maker of sweet baked goods. The seller was Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
FIRMS + FUNDS
- Lakestar, a Switzerland-based venture capital firm, raised $735 million across its early stage and growth stage funds.
- Speedinvest, an Austria-based venture capital fund, raised €190 million ($206 million) for its third flagship fund.
PEOPLE
- Eldridge Industries promoted John E. Kim to principal.
- Nikhil Sachdev joined Insight Partners as a managing director.
