Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan started the company with Tan Hooi Ling in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2012. The business partners aimed to provide passengers safer taxi rides in the country, signing on drivers that commuters could trust.

Their cab-hailing app, MyTeksi, later relocated to Singapore after raising funds for regional expansion. It was rebranded as Grab in 2016, and today has grown to offer financial services, online payments and food delivery, on top of its core business of rides via private cars, taxi partners, shuttle buses, bikes and social carpooling. Grab is public-listed, and listed on Nasdaq on December 2, 2021. As Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, it delivers a full range of mobility, delivery, financial and enterprise services to millions of people across eight countries. Today, one in 20 Southeast Asians use Grab’s services monthly.

Tan, who studied at Harvard Business School, belongs to one of Malaysia’s wealthiest families: he is the son of Dato Tan Heng Chew, president of the board at Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad, one of the country’s biggest automobile distributors. Before founding Grab, Tan was head of supply chain and marketing at Tan Chong, tasked with overseeing logistics and raising awareness of the various marques under the group.

In 2023, it introduced in-app travel innovations, including GrabMaps, for a safe and seamless hyperlocal experience for travelers. Committed to inclusive growth, Grab initiated programmes like the “US$1 million GrabScholar” scholarship and the GrabMerchant Centre to support small businesses.