Southeast Asian superapp Grab has agreed to invest up to $410 million in German remote-driving startup Vay Technology, stepping up its push into autonomous mobility.
In a statement, Grab said it will make an initial $60 million investment in Vay Technology, with a further $350 million possible within a year if agreed financial and operational milestones are met.
Grab said the cash investment will give it a minority stake at closing, expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions. Vay will issue Grab new shares and zero-strike warrants that vest over three years based on milestones.
“We believe the future of mobility in Southeast Asia will be a hybrid model that relies on the expertise of our driver-partners alongside autonomous vehicles and remote driving services,” said Anthony Tan, chief executive officer and co-founder of Grab.
Tan added that the initial investment will help accelerate Vay’s remote driving technology development and create valuable technical and operational synergies for Grab’s long-term mobility strategy.
It will also support Vay’s expansion in the US, where they serve a growing segment of consumers who prefer not to be car owners and are looking for more flexible, affordable, mobility options, Tan said.
Vay began commercial operations in Las Vegas in 2024 and has completed tens of thousands of trips there. The Berlin-founded company plans to expand to additional US cities and add autonomous functions over time.
Through the Vay mobile app, customers request an electric vehicle to be remotely delivered to their location. When it arrives, the remote driver disconnects from the vehicle, and the user takes over, driving it like a regular car.
At the end of the trip, they exit the vehicle, and a remote driver resumes control, eliminating the time-consuming search for parking.
“As we plan to deploy tens of thousands of shared, electric, driverless vehicles over the coming years, we couldn’t be more excited to have one of the best operators in the world join us on this journey,” said Thomas von der Ohe, chief executive officer and co-founder of Vay.
The investment comes as Grab’s mobility vertical’s revenue expanded 17% in Q3, reaching $317 million from $271 million in the same quarter last year. Mobility gross merchandise volume reached $2.04 billion, up 20% year on year.
For the July-September quarter, the company reported a profit of $17 million, marking a 13.3% rise from the same quarter a year ago as the Southeast Asian tech giant continued to expand its core on-demand business.
The Financial Times earlier reported that Grab Holdings and Indonesia’s GoTo Group are considering granting a “golden share” to Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara as they seek government backing for a potential merger.
The merger talks include a proposal to give Danantara a minority stake in the combined group, with special rights over the Indonesian operations.
