After Japanese giant SoftBank took a 15% stake in Uber last month, many thought Uber would quietly leave Southeast Asia’s market to rivals like Grab (another ride-hailing service SoftBank has a stake in). But Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has now dismissed that idea, reports Reuters. In his first visit to Asia as Uber’s CEO, Khosrowshahi said Uber has big investment plans for Southeast Asia:
“We expect to lose money in Southeast Asia and expect to invest aggressively in terms of marketing, subsidies, etc. . . . From a competitive standpoint we think we can improve.
We will look at anything . . . But right now the plan for Southeast Asia is to go forward, lean forward, and to invest.”
Khosrowshahi also revealed that in the next decade he expects 80% of Uber’s growth to be organic or through acquisitions.
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