Grab Looking To Double Headcount To 3,000 By 2020, Denies That Their Business is ‘Failing’

This is essentially two news under one roof.

Just a few days back ago March 29, Malaysian media outlet The Star Online wrote that “the number of “Daily Active Users” of the main Grab app in Singapore plunged after Uber withdrew from the city-state in May” according to data from SimilarWeb.

And just for your info, Daily Active Users, known as “DAU” by developers, is an important metric to determine the success of an app, and not downloads.

Head of communications of Grab Singapore, Su Min Sng, denied there had been a fall in Grab usage and rejected SimilarWeb’s data.

She was quoted as saying:

“I got our team to pull some data. It’s confidential so I cannot share specific numbers with you, however, I can confirm that it is untrue that ‘the numbers have steadily fallen since Uber left’. Our usage, whether daily or monthly, has grown since the acquisition and continues to trend up.

“Does the Internet analytics firm have a credible methodology? Our data is based on actual ride and usage numbers, so what I’m sharing here is accurate.”.

Grab has since issued a statement to The Star Online and clarified that rides in Singapore grew 30% in 2018, a number supported by third-party mobile app intelligence firm App Annie, it claims.

Simply put, the data from SimilarWeb might not be that accurate unless an app (or website) has integrate SW’s tracking codes in their app or website.

And just for your info, the data from SimilarWeb for Goody Feed’s stats isn’t accurate as well, as we did not integrate our website or app with the platform.

Rides Drop (?), Double Headcount (!)

In what seems to be a quickfire salvo, Grab has doubled down on their categorical response to The Star Online.

With action.

According to The Straits Times, Grab, “South-east Asia’s biggest ride-hailing company, plans to double its staff in Singapore to 3,000 by the time it moves into new headquarters next year.”

Its new headquarters which will have an estimated floor area of  42,310 square metres  and cost $181.2 million, was announced, after Grab signed an 11-year lease for new offices in a development by Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust with a five-year renewal option.

According to Grab chief executive officer Anthony Tan, “The new building will allow us to put our growing team of up to 3,000 Grabbers under one roof” and is “also an affirmation of our long-term investment in Singapore.”

This comes on the back of the company’s latest round of Series H funding which drew US$4.5 billion (S$6.1 billion) from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank, Toyota Motor and Microsoft Corp.

In total, seven-year-old Grab has raised over US$8 billion (S$10.8 billion) since it was formed in June 2012.

Looking For Data Scientists, Engineers and A.I. Researchers

Grab has currently about 6,000 personals on its global payroll, with the current Singapore employment strength at about 1, 500.

According to ST’s report, Grab will also be adding “1,000 technology jobs across its research and development centres in Bangalore, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seattle and Singapore” which will include data scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and engineers.

What better way than to silence the critics with a loud attention-Grabbing headline?