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Why Did Uber Lose In Asia
Learnings on proactive vs reactive approaches
I still remember many years ago when Uber was still expanding into Asia. It was one of the biggest startups in the world, with seemingly unlimited capital at the time.
I had just landed in Singapore in 2018 for work and opened up my Uber app, only to see it fail to load. I asked around my local team back then and I was told that Uber had left the market and I should download Grab instead.
Fast forward to today, it was only recently that I re-landed back in Singapore in 2024, and having learned my lesson, I clicked on the Grab app instead.
It’s a common yet unsurprising story that you often see. Even the biggest of startups can fail when expanding into Asia. Having been involved within the tech space and startups for over a decade, I’ve seen startups come and go, often seeing ones that fail more than ones that fully succeed in Asia.
For the most part, startups simply don’t understand the nuances of business in Asia. Regardless, why did Uber, a startup with all this capital in the world, get overthrown by these local ride-sharing apps?
Let’s take a step back first
Although Uber lost ground to competitors like Grab and Didi, it still maintains a footprint…
