Toyota to invest $1 billion in Asian ride-hailing startup Grab

Toyota Motor Corp. is officially going beyond just making cars.

The Japanese automaker announced it’s pumping $1 billion into Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing company, Grab.

The deal marks the biggest investment ever by a traditional automaker into the ride-sharing startup world and is one of the largest agreements Toyota has ever made outside its core business.

Singapore-based Grab, which recently reached a valuation of $10 billion after its latest funding round, made headlines in March when it bought out Uber’s Southeast Asia business in a multibillion-dollar deal. However, Toyota also has ties to Uber. It invested an undisclosed amount into the San Francisco-based company in 2016.

Yet, under the agreement with Toyota, Grab will allow one of the carmaker’s executives to join its board of directors and the two companies will share technology, including software that predicts when cars need maintenance.

Grab said it plans to use the new cash to further expand its food delivery service and mobile payment platform across the region.

Other automakers have also poured money into the ride-hailing boom. In 2016, General Motors invested $500 million in Lyft, while Volkswagen invested $300 in Gett. Additionally, that same year, Honda pumped an undisclosed amount into Grab as well as Hyundai, which invested in the company in January.