Grab Ventures Now Owns Minority Stake in HappyFresh

Grab Ventures confirmed it has provided funding for HappyFresh for an undisclosed amount. Quoted from Deal Street Asia, head of Grab Ventures Chris Yeo said the investment made them now have a minority stake in HappyFresh.

Grab and HappyFresh has confirm presence GrabFresh in Indonesia to make it easier to shop for daily needs in the application Grab.

Grab Ventures is an investment institution that was launched Grab as a pathway to potential startups. According to Yeo, Grab Ventures is eyeing a minority stake placement with funding of US$5-15 million for series A startups and above.

"Speaking of startups in the series A and B stages, the best for us and them is funding for minority shares first. Then we will support them through our platform both in terms of network and capital. Over time, if it goes well, then we can take more shares," said Yeo.

Previously HappyFresh CEO Guillem Segarra in previous interview said, the company is preparing to raise fresh funds for Series C funding later this year. At that time he neither confirmed nor denied the possibility Grab will participate in this funding.

He said the fresh funds would be used for expansion to new countries and expansion of services to new cities in Indonesia next year. In addition, HappyFresh will improve the UI/UX appearance in the application to make it more personal for users.

Not to be acquired

Apart from HappyFresh, Grab has taken a minority stake for fintech company in Vietnam Moca. Grab has also forged several other partnerships with companies in the health, news, and payments space.

On the same occasion, President Grab Ming Maa says the end goal of investing is passing Grab Ventures are not to be acquired. Grab want to make Grab Ventures as a bridge for startups to continue to grow, not by controlling them. Moreover, the costs to be incurred for acquisitions are currently relatively high.

"What we want to do is find a way to keep costs down to a minimum to keep growing."

Yeo claims, from the first time Grab Ventures launched, they have received applications from more than 300 startups. It is planned that this figure will be realized into 8-10 investments in the next two years.

In Indonesia, MDI Ventures is a local partner Grab Ventures.