Ride-hailing startup Grab could raise $1.5 billion from Alibaba and Softbank

Alibaba Co-founder Jack Ma may team up with SoftBank Group's Masayoshi Son in a $1.5 billion investment in ride-hailing startup, Grab.

The investment would be part of Grab's previously reported $1.5 billion fundraising, led by SoftBank and aimed at giving the Singaporean startup cash to battle Uber Technologies in Southeast Asia.

According to sources, Didi Chuxing, the largest ride-hailing company in China and a Grab backer, is also considering participating in the round.

The Ma investment, which may come from either Alibaba Group Holding or payments affiliate Ant Financial, would bring his competition with arch rival Tencent Holdings to Southeast Asia.

Ma is planning to invest via Alibaba Group Holding Ltd or payments affiliate Ant Financial. An alliance with Grab would let Ma market Ant Financial’s digital payment service, Alipay, to millions of riders in the region, where Tencent has already partnered with Grab’s biggest competitor to promote its own payment service.

Grab's financing could be a record for Southeast Asia, eclipsing the previous watermark of $750 million it set in September, in a round said to have given it a valuation of more than $3 billion. SoftBank will provide most of the funding in Grab's latest round.