How Grab is Becoming an Everyday, Everything App in Southeast Asia

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Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling spun the idea of building a ride-hailing company, Grab, while pursuing MBA at Harvard Business School.

Grab was initially conceived as a college project and had bagged US$25,000 in prize money from the pitch contest organised by the school.

Hailing from Malaysia, the duo was aware of the chaotic and unorganised scene the Southeast Asian countries’ transportation sector  faced. Moreover, rolling out a ride-hailing service in the region would give them first-mover advantage. Bringing together their knowledge in business administration and general management, the two started jotting down a business plan and built the application with the prize money they won from the pitch contest.

After sleepless nights and countless brainstorming sessions, Anthony and Tan rolled out GrabTaxi in 2012 in Malaysia—just a year before Uber launched its ride-hailing service in Singapore and two years after Go-Jek in Indonesia.


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