The ride-hailing company founded in Malaysia is Grab. Its origins go back to 2012, when Malaysian entrepreneurs Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling launched the MyTeksi app to make taxi rides safer and more reliable.
The founders developed the idea while studying at Harvard Business School. MyTeksi initially focused on Malaysia, connecting passengers with taxis through a mobile platform rather than requiring them to hail a vehicle on the street or call a dispatch service. The business later expanded regionally and was known as GrabTaxi before adopting the shorter Grab name.
Grab’s growth went beyond conventional taxi booking. It added private-car services, motorcycle rides, food delivery, payments, parcel delivery, and other digital services, turning the original transport app into a broader Southeast Asian “super app.” Its operations have spread across multiple countries in the region.
A common mix-up is treating Grab as a Singapore-founded company because Singapore became its headquarters and an important operating market. However, the company’s founding story and first service are rooted in Malaysia.