Is going public the right move for Grab?

More: How Lalamove’s fundraising is going and the Indian bourses’ approval of the Reliance-Future deal [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} A recurring topic in the conversations I’ve had with folks in the Southeast Asian startup space is the lack of exits that the region has seen. Aside from a few significant ones - think Sea’s initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017 - there hasn’t really been a showstopping exit that’s made us all sit up and pay attention. It certainly seems like we’re holding our breaths, waiting to see which of our regional tech giants - especially the decacorns - will be the next to go public. And it seems that the time might be ripe for Grab to leave the stable and make its stock market debut. Today we look at: - Why Grab should IPO [sooner rather than later]( - How this startup is making investments in private market securities easier for individual investors - Other newsy highlights such as how Lalamove’s fundraising efforts are going (spoiler: very well) and the Indian bourses’ approval of the Reliance-Future deal  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  The perks of going public Rumour has it that Grab may be exploring a listing in 2021. Whether it’s true or not, it certainly makes sense for the ride-hailing decacorn to go public in the near future, given the benefits that a listing could offer to the company. - Dollars and sense: Public markets are awash with cash, and there has been particular interest in emerging market technology companies, such as Sea and Pinduoduo. Plus, IPOs enable companies to raise funds from a larger pool of investors. Access to more funds could be crucial for Grab, which needs cash to fuel its ventures into financial services such as “buy now, pay later” products and digital banking. - Due date: There’s also extra incentive for Grab to go public sooner rather than later. Under the terms of its deal with Uber, the latter has the right to force Grab to buy back its shares - for at least US$2 billion - if Grab doesn’t list by March 2023. - A question of how: What will the listing process look like for Grab? A direct listing would be on the cards, but the rise of special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) in Southeast Asia could provide an alternative route. The SPAC process takes about six months, compared to the average of one year typically required of a traditional IPO - something that could give Grab an edge and bring it to market before a combined Gojek-Tokopedia entity. Read more: [Beyond FOMO: Why Grab should race to an IPO fast](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT  Riding high on the private market Fun fact: global private equity has returned 13.2% on average in the past decade, approximately double the returns from global public equity. So it’s not surprising to learn that Singapore-based digital exchange Istox [has bagged US$50 million]( in a series A round, with investors such as the venture capital arm of Japanese sovereign investor Japan Investment Corporation and the Development Bank of Japan coming on board. - Access granted: Istox opens access for individual accredited investors to invest in digital private market securities. It does so by allowing the issuance of fractionalized private market securities, including equity, bonds, and funds, and facilitating the secondary buying and selling of securities among investors. - Opening doors: Investments in the private market typically have a high minimum-investment threshold of US$1 million, no thanks to the manual processes involved with traditional issuances that keep individual investors out. Istox uses blockchain and smart contract technology to tokenize digital assets and securities into bite-sized portions, reducing the ticket size of each investment to US$20,000 or less.. - Future plans: The fresh funding will help Istox expand its geographical reach and investment offerings. The company will also roll out private issuances by blue-chip issuers and continue with its expansion in China.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Enabling dreams: The life-changing potential of ecommerce One quirky silver lining to the lockdown measures imposed amid the pandemic has been the rise of the home baker. Whether out of boredom or a sudden surplus of time, many of my friends have not only become expert confectioners in their own right but also successful small-business owners, selling their baked goods online. (The best one is definitely these cookies with a gooey marshmallow core that my secondary school senior makes. Be right back - gonna make an order now!) Ecommerce platforms have [enabled these rapid and seamless glow ups]( democratizing online selling and providing opportunities for businesses - even small, local ones - to reach wide audiences. Take for example Lê Đức Minh and Lê Đức Duy, brothers who have brought their family’s honey business to new heights by moving exclusively online with the help of Lazada’s various seller initiatives. During one of the recent 11.11 sales, the Vietnamese business received more than 2,000 orders a day for their honey products. And for one Indonesian fashion designer, ecommerce made his dream possible. Mielka Raputra Bardin successfully launched his new independent label at the height of the pandemic, and he was even invited to participate in Jakarta Fashion Week, the country’s premier annual fashion event. Clearly, ecommerce is no mere novelty channel. It helps people ride out tough times and empowers them to turn their dreams of entrepreneurship into a reality. Lazada, a pioneer of the industry in Southeast Asia, aims to keep people up to date on the latest developments with its monthly newsletter, LazBeat. Featuring trend insights, seller stories, and much more, it makes for a compelling read. Subscribe to keep your finger on the ecommerce pulse [here](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  QUICK BYTES  1️⃣ Reliance-Future deal gets the green light In a blow to Amazon, Indian stock exchanges [have approved]( the US$3.4 billion deal between retail giants Reliance Retail and Future Group. The US-based ecommerce giant had sought to block the deal, saying that it was a violation of its right-of-first-refusal pact with Future Group.  2️⃣ Big bucks in the offing Hong Kong-based on-demand logistics and delivery company Lalamove is [close to completing]( a US$1.5 billion financing round that would bring its total valuation to around US$10 billion. It has raised US$1.3 billion as part of the first two tranches of its series F funding round led by Hillhouse Capital, and is reportedly looking to raise another US$200 million to close out the round.  3️⃣ Alibaba-backed logistics firm weighs potential sale Best, a New York-listed Chinese logistics firm backed by ecommerce giant Alibaba, is [considering a sale]( as part of a strategic review, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has been exploring its options as its shares have been underperforming and are now worth a fifth of their IPO price in 2018.  4️⃣ Digital currency test 3.0 Twenty million digital yuan - roughly US$3 million - [will be issued]( to residents in Shenzhen as part of the Chinese government’s pilot tests for digital currency. This is the third digital currency trial in the city, with the first occurring in October last year.  5️⃣ For the gentlemen Chinese men’s personal care brand Liran announced that it has [secured US$23.2 million]( in a series B round. Officially launched in January 2020, Liran provides products catered to men, covering skincare, body wash, hair care, body fragrance, and makeup, among others.  6️⃣ New debt financing for this fintech startup Indian fintech firm BharatPe announced that it [has raised US$6.9 million in debt]( from Trifecta Capital, marking the third tranche of the company’s debt fund financing. The company provides financial services, such as zero merchant discount rate payment acceptance and unified payments interface payment-backed merchant cash advance, across 65 cities in India  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - Tech in Asia x AWS Fintech Forum on 23 February Join Tech in Asia’s upcoming half-day conference in partnership with AWS to get a head start on how to accelerate your fintech capabilities. Through a fireside chat, a panel discussion, and a masterclass, you’ll get to hear Asia’s best thought leaders discuss the region’s fintech landscape, how to build and scale fintech platforms, and more. RSVP for your complimentary seat [here](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [Senior Software Engineer]( at Doctor Anywhere (Singapore, Singapore) - [Enterprise Sales Director - Australia (Future Country Manager)]( at Tigerhall (Singapore, Singapore) - [Senior Graphic Designer]( at Ematic Solutions (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam )  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND Don’t leave your co-workers behind! Share this with them so that they can keep up with what’s going on in the region’s tech scene. Feel free to [drop us some feedback]( if our newsletter today got you feeling smarter (or if it didn’t).  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Thanks for reading! Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi (or tea). [ADVERTISE]( | [PREMIUM]( | [JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Was this forwarded to you? You can read this everyday when you sign up [here](. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Today’s edition is written by Stefanie Yeo, with contributions from Simon Huang and Melissa Goh. It’s edited by September Grace Mahino. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554