Grab Holdings: Bold Promises of Super App, Hidden Risks, and a $1.1B Loss — Can They Move Past This?

Court: S.D. New York

Case: 1:22-cv-02189

Grab Holdings has been making slow but steady progress lately, aiming for profitability and reporting solid year-over-year growth.

But a look back at the company’s post-SPAC debut reveals a much rougher start—marked by massive losses, and incentive spending. Here’s a quick recap of what happened and where things stand now.

First things first: Grab Holdings went public in December 2021 through a SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth, branding itself as Southeast Asia’s leading “super-app” with ride-hailing, food delivery, and financial services. At the time, the company emphasized strong growth prospects and seemed well-positioned to dominate the region.

But just a few months later, Grab shocked investors with a $1.1 billion quarterly loss and a 44% revenue decline—largely due to increased spending on driver and consumer incentives. The company had been grappling with a major driver shortage and used aggressive incentives to keep operations running, but failed to adequately warn investors about the toll this would take on profitability.

After that came out, GRAB tanked over 37%, wiping out a huge chunk of investor value. That’s when shareholders stepped in, filing a lawsuit alleging that Grab misled them about the company’s financial stability and failed to disclose the full impact of its incentive-driven growth model.

Fast forward to this year, Grab has agreed to an $80M settlement to resolve the claims. And they’re still accepting claims even the deadline has already passed.

A few months ago, the company reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results. Grab achieved a 15% yoy increase in fourth-quarter revenue, reaching $764 million. However, it forecasted its 2025 revenue between $3.33 billion and $3.40 billion, slightly below analysts' expectations.

For now, it’s a waiting game to see how things play out moving forward.