Grab hops into driver's seat as tourism recovers in SEA

Opening Bell 🔔 is Tech in Asia’s free newsletter that brings you the biggest news and latest trends around Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. [Read from your browser]( Opening Bell 🔔 Welcome to the Opening Bell! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Written by Samreen Ahmad Journalist Hello {NAME} When India reopened in October 2020 after months of Covid-induced lockdown, my family took a trip to Ooty, a beautiful hill station nestled in the Nilgiris Hills of southern India. After many months of staying at home, the trip was pure bliss. What added to the joy was the 40% discount our hotel offered us. There was only one other family staying at the property, while the rest of the rooms were vacant. Ooty’s Jubilee Park, which is otherwise packed with tourists, looked like a deserted green estate. India’s tourism sector was battered by the pandemic in 2020. It however bounced back in late 2021 as [“revenge travel”]( picked up. Similarly, Southeast Asia has been seeing an uptick in tourist footfall. However, tourism in the region, famous for its culture and beaches, is yet to reach its pre-pandemic levels. In the Big Story this week, my colleague Simon breaks down Grab’s (GRAB, NDAQ) ambitions to make hay from the reopening of the tourism sector in Southeast Asia. The super app has launched several features to attract tourists to the platform. But will it? And how much impact might this have on the company’s topline? Read on to find out. --Samreen  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Grab rolls out initiatives to benefit from rebound in SEA tourism]( The super app wants to welcome travellers back to the region with new and updated features. But what impact will this have on Grab’s top line? ---------------------------------------------------------------  3 TRENDS TO KEEP EYE ON Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more. 1️⃣ IPO sizes see course correction: With tough market conditions continuing to haunt companies, upcoming tech IPOs are undergoing a correction in their valuations. Japan's Rakuten Bank [downsized]( its US$625 million IPO filing, which was initially expected to raise about US$800 million. But the good news was that its shares surged up to 40% in the market debut on Friday. In India, hotel chain Oyo has [refiled its draft red herring prospectus]( under the pre-filing route to raise betweenUS$400 million and US$600 million IPO - half of the US$1.2 billion it had targeted earlier. Such incidents indicate the lengths celebrated tech companies are going to in order to list in this climate. 2️⃣ Taking the metaverse out of Meta (META, NDAQ)?: Facebook parent Meta, which has already shed 21,000 employees, could be at it again. The company is reportedly going to slash 4,000 more roles soon. Talks are rife that the company’s flagship virtual reality and augmented reality division, Reality Lab, [could be one of the affected units](. If this happens, it indicates a shift in one of Meta’s[ biggest bets]( – the metaverse — where people can interact with each other using avatars. Launched in 2021, Reality Labs had seen [US$13.7 billion]( in operating losses for 2022. 3️⃣ Zomato blinks first: Indian foodtech giant Zomato witnessed the [closure of its dark stores]( at its quick-commerce unit Blinkit last week, as it faced a strike by delivery personnel. Zomato, which has been eyeing profitability, allegedly tweaked its delivery payout structure without first consulting riders, which led to the strike. The company later said it had addressed the concerns of delivery partners and tweaked its payout structure and that most stores had resumed operations. India’s gig economy, already laden with social security and low pay concerns, needs a structured framework to protect the rights of delivery partners. While the government has made [provisions]( in the Code on Social Security (2020), which provides gig workers with health and maternity benefits, old age security, education, etc, these workers still need protection at the workplace through the right to a minimum basic wage. 2 EYE-POPPING NUMBERS Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you head-turning numbers from the world of business. - [1 million]( The number of developer jobs Apple (APPL, NDAQ) says it has created in India, where the US tech giant recently opened two retail stores in Mumbai and Delhi. - [US$14.5 billion]( The valuation Chinese memory chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies is eyeing for its domestic IPO. THE ONE YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING We spotlight the story that had everyone talking and social media buzzing during the past week. Stop! says GoTo Group to $500m debt sale talk: Indonesia’s GoTo Group (GOTO.JK) has [terminated talks]( to raise US$500 million via a convertible bond issue. While announcing its [December-quarter results]( the super app had said that it was confident of its solid cash position, “which is sufficient to allow us to reach positive operating cash flow as we near our profitability targets this year.” This clashed with the company’s earlier ambitions to raise funds via convertible bonds, so it decided to drop the idea of debt sale. The SoftBank-backed (9984.TYO) company is now trying to hit the profitability ball in its court. However, the company is [far from being profitable](. In 2022, its net losses widened 56% from a year ago. To make matters worse, its closest domestic competitor Bukalapak has already turned [profitable]( though this was due to a marked-to-market gain from its investment in Allo Bank. The company is still unprofitable on an [adjusted EBITDA]( basis. This puts more pressure on GoTo to chart a clearer path to profitability. GoTo has already [slashed nearly 1,800 jobs]( in the past few months, trimming incentives and its marketing budget. Only time will tell how far these measures will help in GoTo’s journey to profitability. That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to our preference center at the bottom of this email. Happy investing and see you next week! Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND 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. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. 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