Singapore – To drive inclusive growth in SEA, superapp Grab has announced the official opening of its new headquarters in Singapore. The newly-launched headquarters comes with the superapp’s new initiative called ‘GrabMerchant Centre’, which aims to help small businesses grow online.
The new headquarters in Singapore spans nine floors and more than 42,000 sqm, bringing about 3,000 Grabbers and an R&D Centre under one roof. Apart from the first GrabMerchant Centre, it will also be home to the digibank team. This new headquarters is one of two headquarters Grab has in the region. The dual headquarter is based in Jakarta, Indonesia, and serves as Grab’s regional innovation hub for small businesses.
Meanwhile, the ‘GrabMerchant Centre’ seeks to provide 1-on-1 business consultation services for Grab’s SME merchant-partners. It is a one-stop hub dedicated to helping small businesses optimise their online presence, maximise GrabFood, GrabMart, GrabFin, and GrabAds services for their businesses, and learn to use digital tools to grow.
Anthony Tan, Grab’s group CEO and co-founder, shared that as they celebrate Grab’s 10th anniversary this year, they hope that their announcements will help small businesses and their future workforce upskill and maximise their opportunities, even in this challenging macro environment.
“Providing access to digital tools can be a powerful way to ensure all Southeast Asians can equally participate in – and benefit from – the rising digital economy, the same way 10 years ago when our driver-partners learned how to use their smartphones to earn incomes,” said Tan.
Aside from the new headquarters and the new SME initiative, Grab has also committed an annual US$1m from the GrabForGood Fund towards the ‘GrabScholar’ programme, which will provide university scholarships and educational bursaries across all countries Grab operates in SEA.
‘GrabScholar’ programme plans to award over 2,000 scholarships and bursaries annually. It will cover tuition and study-related expenses for underprivileged children to attend primary, secondary, or vocational schools, as well as universities. Internship opportunities will also be offered to tertiary students to develop their professional aptitude and prepare them for full-time roles when they graduate. It was launched in Indonesia last July in partnership with Yayasan Benih Baik Indonesia. This is in addition to existing scholarship and bursary initiatives that are offered to the children of Grab’s driver-, delivery- and merchant-partners in Singapore and Thailand.
