Grab Invests $100M In Hotel Reservation Startup OYO

Grab, the Singapore ride-hailing company, is investing $100 million into OYO, the India-based hotel reservation startup.

Reuters, citing a source with knowledge of the matter, reported that the investment in OYO by Grab is part of the close to $1 billion the startup announced it raised in September. OYO is using the funding to grow its business both in China and India and to expand internationally. Both Grab and OYO are backed by Japan’s SoftBank. With the Grab investment, OYO has raised around $900 million, with $800 million coming from SoftBank and other investors, noted Reuters. Grab declined to comment, while OYO did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

According to Reuters, while it is not clear what the money will go to, Grab and OYO may have inked a similar deal to Grab’s collaboration with Microsoft in which they work together on technology. Grab has a value of roughly $11 billion after its latest fundraising efforts in August, sources told Reuters. Grab is known as the Uber of Southeast Asia.

The investment on the part of Grab comes at a time when it has been making more deals to grow its business. In late August Grab announced that it plans to invest $250 million in Indonesian startups over the next three years through its new innovation arm. Earlier in the month Grab revealed that it had raised $2 billion in funding in recent months, and added in the announcement that it will use a significant portion of the proceeds to continue investing in Indonesia. One way to do that is through its Grab Ventures arm, which will develop technology startups in sectors beyond ride-hailing. Grab has more than 7.1 million micro-entrepreneurs on its platform, more than half of whom reside in Indonesia. OYO is also setting its sights on the Indonesian market, announcing in October plans to launch in the country.