Grab, once Southeast Asia's most valuable startup, is faltering behind Go To Group in the public markets as it fights to gain ground on its Indonesian rival.
After staging their stock-market debuts in recent months, the unprofitable companies are struggling to convince investors that they can make money. GoTo's market value is twice that of its Singaporean counterpart, despite the fact that GoTo has fallen less. The companies are going to report their earnings in the next few days.
Over the past few years, Grab and GoTo have been locked in a battle for supremacy. The city-state of Singapore is still considered the largest market by Grab even as it tries to expand. GoTo is enjoying a leadership position in its home nation of more than 270 million people who use their mobile phones to shop and order food and rides.
GoTo has an advantage over Grab due to the growth potential of Indonesia. Since its initial public offering in Jakarta in April, GoTo has lost 3%, while Grab has lost more than half of it's value.
The country's biggest tech firm may be able to defend food delivery market share from Grab, the category's leader in Southeast Asia, thanks to GoTo's advantage as a local brand.
GoTo is scheduled to release second-quarter results on August 30.