SINGAPORE, August 11, 2022 – Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, announced two new initiatives to drive inclusive growth in Southeast Asia today at the official opening of its Headquarters @ Singapore. The new initiatives include a US$1 million GrabScholar programme to disburse scholarships and bursaries to students across Southeast Asia, and a new GrabMerchant Centre to help small businesses grow online. Grab Headquarters @ Singapore was launched in the presence of Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong.
“As we celebrate Grab’s 10th anniversary this year, we hope that our announcements today will help small businesses and our 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 Anthony Tan, Group CEO and Co-founder, Grab.
“Grab’s new headquarters in Singapore is a testament to Singapore’s growing vibrant digital ecosystem. As Grab grows to 3,000 employees working across corporate, business and tech functions, more exciting and innovative capabilities will be created for our digital economy. We look forward to Singapore’s continued partnership with Grab to create exciting job opportunities for Singaporeans, and to strengthen Singapore as the location for high-end R&D and innovation,” said Chan Ih-Ming, Senior Vice President, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG).
GrabScholar programme to provide US$1 million worth of scholarships and bursaries annually
Grab has committed an annual US$1 million from the GrabForGood Fund towards the GrabScholar programme, which will provide university scholarships and educational bursaries across all countries Grab operates in Southeast Asia.
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.
GrabScholar was launched in Indonesia last month in partnership with Yayasan Benih Baik Indonesia[1]. 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. This has helped to open access to quality education and transform lives locally. The new region wide GrabScholar programme is an expanded effort to support the broader communities across Southeast Asia.
“We are pleased to partner with Grab to offer the scholarships and bursaries for underprivileged children in Indonesia. Clearly, creating a social impact is at the core of Grab’s mission — the tech company has invested in many different projects to support the local communities. With their strong support, we hope to contribute to the development of inclusive communities, improving the quality of life of their families in the long term,” said Andi F. Noya, Co-founder of BenihBaik.
GrabMerchant Centre to help small businesses thrive online
Grab has been helping small businesses come online in the past two years. As Southeast Asia leaves behind the worst of Covid-19 lockdowns and drives towards recovery, these SMEs have also stabilised their delivery business’ operations and are now ready to scale.
To facilitate this, Grab will soon launch its first-ever GrabMerchant Centre to provide 1-on-1 business consultation services for our SME merchant-partners. It will be located at Grab HQ @ Singapore. GrabMerchant Centre 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.
GrabMerchant Centre provides a suite of services:
1-on-1 business consultation with Grab Account Managers. Merchant-partners can tap on Grab’s Southeast Asia network, access to data insights and multi-vertical ecosystem. Account managers will provide dedicated consultations to advise on long-term growth plans and provide actionable business insights to help merchant-partners grow to the next level.
Prioritised operational assistance. Merchants are able to subscribe to “Merchant Concierge Service”, a prioritised hotline to get direct assistance to solve any operational issues. This ensures their delivery business runs smoothly and reduces downtime.
Workshops and networking. The GrabMerchant Centre will regularly organise upskilling workshops to help merchant-partners stay abreast of the latest industry trends and developments. These will also serve as networking sessions to facilitate business connections and a small business community for collective learning. It launched its first-ever GrabMerchant Open House on 5th August 2022 which was well-received by merchant-partners.
The 1-on-1 business consultations were piloted earlier this year, with success stories of how the data insights provided helped small businesses grow their online delivery business volume.
Comments