If you’re a superapp and you don’t have a presence in SEA, are you even a superapp? (Source: WorldAtlas)
Southeast Asian superapp Grab announced plans to go public by partnering with Altimeter Growth Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Axios reports.
The kicker: At an equity value at $39.6B, it would be the largest SPAC ever.
Grab was founded in 2011 as a ride-hailing startup
Since then, the Singapore-based company has added a digital wallet, food delivery, and more to its offering.
As we previously detailed, 650m+ people — nearly twice the US population — live in 11 countries across Southeast Asia.
Many of these locales have underdeveloped infrastructure, which creates the space for “superapps” to thrive by providing one-touch access to finance, transportation, and logistics.
Grab — once called the Uber of Asia — is competing with 2 other players to be the region’s superapp:
The largest SPAC ever hits…
… as US regulators are reviewing SPAC accounting practices per the Wall Street Journal. This change could make a SPAC look less financially attractive than it would otherwise be.
With SPACs raising more in the first 3 months of 2021 ($88B+) than all of 2020 ($83.4B), the extra scrutiny seems warranted.
