Be Group, the owner and operator of the multiservice consumer platform Be, has announced a substantial investment from VPBank Securities JSC (VPBankS), a subsidiary of VPBank, totaling VND739.5 billion ($31.2 million).
The investment will add financial potential to firmly support the Be Group to continue promoting its strong development strategy post-Covid-19.
The participation of a financial institution like VPBankS will confirm Be Group’s growth potential and supplement support resources for management, access to capital, and finance.
VPBankS will be the first institutional investor to participate in Be Group, holding a minority stake.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the size of Vietnam’s ride-hailing market is expected to increase from $960 million in 2023 to $2.61 billion in 2028, with a CAGR of 22.1 per cent during the forecast period of 2023-2028. Market share is led by Grab, followed by Be and Gojek.
In addition, the online food delivery segment is extremely competitive yet retains its potential. Baemin’s recent exit from the market has redivided its market share.
A Momentum Works’ 2023 online food delivery market report noted that total expected revenue in Vietnam’s online food delivery market in 2023 ranked it fifth among Southeast Asian countries, after Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia, while its growth rate compared to the same period last year ranked it third and its CAGR for the 2023-2027 period was behind only Indonesia’s.
A Statista study, meanwhile, commented that with a population size among the largest in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is showing a lot of potential to develop its online food delivery market. Revenue from the market may reach $1.93 billion in 2023, 29.5 per cent higher than in 2022, with a CAGR in the 2023-2027 period of 15.29 per cent, the equivalent of revenue reaching $3.41 billion by 2027.
Despite its promising scale, it is clear that market share belongs primarily to foreign apps. Be Group will therefore use the capital injection to continue to expand and comprehensively improve ride-hailing services, delivery services, digital services, and financial services, as well as expand to new markets and services in the field of consumer and transportation sectors. This aligns with the Group’s vision of serving 20 million users in close cooperation with its strategic partners.
In early 2023, the Be Group partnered with a Vietnamese company, the Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company (GSM), to expand electric taxi services. It previously received a loan of up to $100 million from Germany’s Deutsche Bank. The company said this financial support has the potential to help it promote its strategy of realizing major goals.
Be Group has also set its sights on being EBITDA-positive in the 2024 financial year.
“By becoming a shareholder of Be, VPBankS anticipates that this deal will bring great investment returns by riding on the potential presented by the multiservice consumer platform, which is among the frontrunners to become one of Vietnam’s technology unicorns,” a representative from VPBankS said.
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