The largest SPAC listing in history was officially born.

Last night (December 2nd), Grab, who was famous for its Southeast Asian version of Didi in his early years, got on NASDAQ through SPAC, setting the largest SPAC merger in history. On the first day of listing, Grab opened 18% higher, then broke down by more than 2%, and the total market value of that day reached 34.5 billion US dollars (about 2 billion yuan).

This morning, Didi Chuxing announced that after careful study, the company will start delisting from the NYSE and start the preparation for listing in Hong Kong.

Grab, a super unicorn, was created by Chen Bingyao, a young Chinese born after 198s. Born in Anxi County, Fujian Province, Chen Bingyao was born in Malaysia in 1982. In 211, while studying for an MBA at Harvard, he and his good friend Chen Huiling began to plan a business to change Malaysia's chaotic traffic. In the following year, he resolutely founded Grab despite family opposition. In the past 9 years, Grab has successfully repelled the invasion of travel giants Uber and Didi, and has grown into a super APP integrating travel, takeaway and mobile payment today.

to dominate southeast Asia, the financing scale of Grab along the way is also staggering. According to Crunchbase data, as of March this year, Grab has raised more than $12 billion (about 75 billion yuan) through 33 financing, bringing together investors such as Softbank, Xiangfeng Investment, GGV ggv capital, Gaoyou, CDH Investment, Ali, Didi and Toyota. Among them, Grab's largest shareholder is Softbank at the helm of Sun Zhengyi.

As the largest gathering place for overseas Chinese, Chinese entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia are making unicorns in batches-Sichuan person Li Jie created the Southeast Asian express giant J&; T Express is extremely rabbit express, Southeast Asia's "Little Tencent" Sea comes from Li Xiaodong, Tianjin, and there are Chinese people behind Razer and "Where is the Indonesian version?" Traveloka .......................................................................................................................

The largest unicorn in Southeast Asia went public

Its ancestral home was in Fujian, and the third generation of Chinese was at the helm after 8s

This is a hearty inspirational story-giving up inheriting the family business and devoting to starting a business after a noble family.

Born in 1982, Chen Bingyao's ancestral home is from Anxi County, Fujian Province. Many years ago, his ancestors left the small mountain village in their hometown and went to Malaysia to make a living. Thanks to the unremitting efforts and hard work of ancestors and fathers, the later Malaysian "automobile empire" Chen Sing Car was born, and Chen Bingyao was able to grow up in a carefree environment.

"But my family is a traditional China family. My father has always had high expectations for us. He firmly believes that children must work hard and prove themselves. " Under the strict education of Chen's father, after graduating from the University of Chicago in 24, Chen Bingyao returned to the family business and took charge of the company's supply chain and marketing department. In order to improve his business skills, Chen Bingyao went to Harvard University to study for an MBA in 29, and it was here that he became interested in entrepreneurship.

starting a business really comes from an old friend's words. One day in 29, Chen Huiling, a good friend of Chen Bingyao, complained to him about the bad situation of Malaysian taxi industry. Chen Huiling said, "Your great-grandfather used to be a taxi driver, and your grandfather started a car business in Malaysia, but your friend may still encounter many safety problems when taking a taxi. Why don't you do something about it? "

This casual complaint inspired Chen Bingyao, who was eager to start a business. They hit it off and started a business plan non-stop: to develop an application, so that users can find the nearest taxi driver in the congested and chaotic streets of Malaysia. Because smart phones were not popular in Southeast Asia at that time, the business plan also mentioned providing mobile phones for taxi drivers. Two years later, in the entrepreneurial competition of Harvard Business School, Chen Bingyao and his friends won the runner-up and won a prize of $25,.

However, Chen Bingyao's increasingly determined idea of starting a business met with dissatisfaction from his family, and even threatened to deprive him of the right to inherit family property. Despite this, Chen Bingyao resolutely chose to start a business. "At that time, the taxi system in Malaysia was a mess: drivers hated the job because they couldn't make enough money, and female passengers were also worried about safety issues. We need to make a little change. "

In June, 212, Chen Bingyao and Chen Huiling put their entrepreneurial ideas into practice, and MyTeksi, an online car platform, was officially launched, which is the super unicorn Grab that will subvert the travel industry in Southeast Asia in the future. The rise of a new thing is always not easy, and so is Grab. At the very beginning of his business, Chen Bingyao traveled all over airports, shopping centers, gas stations and other places frequented by taxi drivers, but he was repeatedly rejected. It was not until he mentioned his grandfather who used to be a taxi driver that he triggered a buzz. He barely won a business cooperation opportunity that only operated 3 taxis, and since then he has embarked on the road of barbaric growth.

according to the data of official website, since its establishment in June 212, Grab started in Malaysia and successively entered the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and other regions, becoming the largest taxi application software in Southeast Asia. At the same time, Grab also launched many sub-businesses to meet the diverse needs of the market, including the motorcycle reservation platform GrabBike, the carpool service GrabHitch, the food delivery service Grabpay, and mobile payment GrabPay.

after nine years, Chen bingyao led his team to create the largest unicorn company in southeast Asia, and finally went public as expected. on December 2, EDT, Grab successfully landed on Nasdaq by SPAC, with a market value of 2 billion yuan. The 39-year-old Chen Bingyao holds 2.2% of Grab, which also ushered in a highlight moment in his life.

Looking back on the opposition and incomprehension he experienced on his way to starting a business, he once said with emotion, "It is difficult for my family to understand what I want to do, and I don't blame them. Before embarking on this journey, you need to realize that for start-ups, if you want to win and grow rapidly, you must make many personal sacrifices. "

Crazy scene: 9 years' financing exceeds 7 billion

Mother is an angel investor and Softbank is the largest shareholder

. Grab's financing history is equally wonderful along the way.

in 9 years, Grab has assembled a vast team of investors. According to Crunchbase data, as of March 221, Grab has raised more than 12 billion US dollars (about 75 billion yuan) through 33 financing, bringing together more than 3 investors such as Softbank, Xiangfeng Investment, GGV ggv capital, Gaoyou, CDH Investment, Ali, Didi and Toyota.

Hidden among these VC/PE and giant companies is a mysterious angel investor-Chen Bingyao's mother. At that time, when all the family members denied Chen Bingyao's dream, only his mother stood up and supported him, and contributed money to become the first investor of Grab. Although his mother admits that she still doesn't understand the business model of the project, she still hopes her son's career will be successful.

Xiangfeng Investment is the first institutional investor of Grab. In 213, Zheng Juncong, the investment management partner of Xiangfeng, was in close contact with Didi, which had just emerged, but later failed to invest for various reasons. After that, Zheng Juncong, who shuttled between China and Singapore all the year round, began to study the travel mode of online car more deeply, and soon noticed Grab, which started in Malaysia.

One day not long after, Zheng Juncong met Chen Bingyao in Singapore. As soon as he met him, he was attracted by the young people in front of him. They had a good talk: Chen Bingyao described his original intention of improving people's lives in Malaysia and even Southeast Asia, while Zheng Juncong shared Didi's development path in China from the perspective of investors.

This meeting strengthened Zheng Juncong's idea of investing in Grab. In his view, Chen Bingyao's courage to put aside the aura of his family and resolutely start a business was really rare. At the same time, his entrepreneurial concept and belief in success were also valuable in the Southeast Asian venture capital circle at that time. "He is the entrepreneur that Xiangfeng wants to invest." Zheng Juncong told the investment community, "He is very pragmatic and really wants to help the bottom people. He is the founder with both entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurial feelings."

In less than a month, Xiangfeng Investment completed this investment, becoming the first institutional investor since the establishment of Grab, and continuously added money in the following two rounds of financing. Zheng Juncong revealed to the investment community that in the Grab project, Xiangfeng Investment has invested a total of over 2 million US dollars, and in addition to the funds, it has also made suggestions on the company's strategies such as developing Singapore business and expanding payment business. "For many years, we have kept close contact, and Anthony even mentioned that Xiangfeng is more cordial than his family." Zheng Juncong recalled.

in Grab's early investor camp, there are also GGV ggv capital, Gao ling and qunar. In 214, Jixun Foo, managing partner of GGV ggv capital, met Chen Bingyao at Starbucks in Singapore Plaza. On that day, a young man with a strong physique and a smile came face to face. "He is very polite and confident." Jixun Foo said.

After listening to Chen Bingyao's thoughts, Jixun Foo felt the young people's strong determination to succeed. "Anthony never wanted to make money from his family-he wanted to do something on his own. Jixun Foo was deeply moved by this internal driving force. Later, after investigating Grab's Malaysian business, GGV ggv capital led Grab's round B financing.

talking about this investment, Jixun Foo said: "since we met Anthony in 214, we have been deeply moved by his entrepreneurial spirit. It is not easy to succeed in the complex and diverse Southeast Asian market. In the past seven years, Anthony led his team to develop this student project originally called MyTeksi into today's super application step by step. GGV is honored to participate in this process and witness this important milestone. We are very optimistic about the development of the digital economy in Southeast Asia and hope to cooperate with more companies like Grab to support the development of the whole region. "

but the biggest investor behind this listing is Softbank. Since the D round in 214, the Softbank Vision Fund, headed by Sun Zhengyi, has participated in almost every subsequent round of investment, with a cumulative capital injection of more than 4.5 billion US dollars, giving Grab the most firm capital support. As an investor who shot Grab and Uber at the same time, Softbank is also the promoter of the merger of Grab and Uber in Southeast Asia, which directly stabilized Grab's position in Southeast Asia. Up to now, Softbank has accumulated 18.6% shares in Grab and is the largest shareholder of the company.

with the help of the mighty employers, Grab started as a travel service in nine years, not only winning the fierce struggle with local players such as Gojek, but also defeating foreign car giants such as Uber and Didi, and expanding its business to mobile payment, take-away food delivery, etc. It can be called a combination of Didi, Meituan and Alipay, and has grown into a behemoth today.

By the end of last year, Grab had covered more than 4 cities in Southeast Asia, with more than 5 million registered drivers and more than 2 million businesses. This year, the epidemic situation in COVID-19 promoted the demand for online delivery platform. The annual GMV (total merchandise turnover) reached $12.5 billion, with a total revenue of $1.6 billion, but it still faced losses.

Chinese entrepreneurs have made a splash in Southeast Asia

Unicorns have been born

In Southeast Asia, a group of Chinese are making unicorns in batches.

I have to mention Li Jie, the head of Extreme Rabbit Express. Under the tutelage of Duan Yongping, there is almost no information about Li Jie's early years on the Internet, only a few words: he was born in Sichuan, China in 1967 and graduated from the School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing with a major in marketing. It was not until he entered the BBK company built by Duan Yongping that Li Jie began to enter the public eye. From BBK to OPPO, he can win the sales champion every year, and he is a right-hand man of Duan Yongping. In 213, Li Jie volunteered to go to Indonesia and successfully opened up a new market for OPPO.

two years later, at a press conference in OPPO Indonesia, Li Jie announced that he would step down as CEO of OPPO Indonesia and devote himself to his new career-in August of the J& year, the courier company j&; T Express was officially born. Relying on OPPO's resources, network system and mobile phone distribution business in Southeast Asia, J&; Within a few years, T Express has covered the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries outside Indonesia, becoming the most powerful express dark horse in Southeast Asia.

Dominate in Southeast Asia, J& in 219; T Express turned into a rabbit express and quietly entered China, setting off a new war of bloodshed. Originated in Southeast Asia, today's Polar Rabbit Express is an unstoppable super unicorn, whether in Southeast Asia or China. Just at the end of October this year, this giant also spent 6.8 billion yuan to acquire Best Express. As the head of the company, Li Jie rarely appears in public. Many people close to Li Jie almost unanimously use the word "low-key" to describe this secret boss.

Li Xiaodong, the founder of Sea, can't ignore the hidden Chinese entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia. Sea, known as "Little Tencent in Southeast Asia", Li Xiaodong is the soul of this unicorn company. Born in Tianjin, China in 1978, Li Xiaodong graduated from the Engineering Department of Shanghai Jiaotong University, and later obtained an MBA from Stanford University. Here, he met Chen Ou, the founder of Jumeiyoupin, and was invited to join GGgame in battle platform.

This company was founded by Chen Ou when he was a university student in Singapore, but he left in 28 for various reasons. After Li Xiaodong took over the company, he changed its name to Garena, and later developed the game into a platform-based game operation.