<P> The idea of creating a taxi - booking mobile app first came from Anthony Tan, who is the youngest of the three brothers of the family that operates Tan Chong Motors, the authorised distributor for Nissan cars in Malaysia . When a friend visited him in Malaysia, Anthony heard his friend complaining about the horrible experience of riding taxis in the country . His friend was not sure whether the taxi was taking the right route or the fare has been fair to customers . This caused Anthony to take this problem up as project when he was studying at Harvard Business school . When he presented this project to his professors, the comments he got were that this project was "difficult to implement" and "not proven yet in the real world". However, in 2011, the project won second place at the Business Plan Contest at Harvard Business School . The app was also selected as the finalist at Harvard's Minimum Viable Product Funding award . </P> <P> In June 2012, Anthony Tan quit his position as the head - of - marketing of his family business Tan Chong Motors at Kuala Lumpur and launched "My Teksi" app in Malaysia (known as "GrabTaxi" in other countries) together with Tan Hooi Ling, another Harvard graduate . Tan Hooi Ling, Anthony's classmate, who was also a consultant at McKinsey & Company, drew a business plan for promoting the mobile app . MyTeksi was launched with initial grant of US $25,000 from Havard Business school and Anthony Tan's personal capital . Anthony Tan became the CEO of the company . He went door - to - door in search for the biggest taxi companies to try his product . The first response he got was "Don't sell this stupid app . Nobody will use it . Taxi drivers will steal your phone--they're terrible people" and he was told to go back to his family business . Only the fifth taxi company who operated a fleet of 30 taxis decided to give him a chance . Nadiem Makarim (GO - JEK co-founder and former classmate of Anthony at Harvard Business School) acknowledged GrabTaxi as his inspiration for his motorbike hailing business in Indonesia . However, increasing rivalry between Grab and GO - JEK in Indonesia had soured the friendship between Nadiem and Anthony . Since 2014, Grab moved its company headquarters from Malaysia to Singapore . Moreover, Anthony Tan also acquired Singaporean citizenship, according to the company's filings with the Singapore government in 2017 . </P> <P> GrabTaxi expanded to the Philippines in August 2013, and to Singapore and Thailand in October of the same year . In 2014, GrabTaxi further continued its growth and expansion to new countries: first launching in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in February, and Jakarta in Indonesia in June . In May 2014, the company launched GrabCar . It serves as an alternative form of transportation that uses private cars instead of taxis through a licensed partner in an effort to overcome the lack of public transportation during peak hours . In November 2014, GrabTaxi launched its first GrabBike service in Ho Chi Minh City as a trial service . In 2015, GrabBike's motorcycle service rides can be found in Vietnam and Indonesia . GrabBike also provides medical insurance for the passengers and the drivers . In February 2015, the company launched GrabCar+ (a service that provides a fleet of higher - end cars) in the Philippines . </P> <P> In January 2016, GrabTaxi was rebranded into "Grab" which encompasses other company's products under one roof: GrabCar (private cars), GrabBike (motorcycle taxis), GrabHitch (carpooling) and GrabExpress (last mile delivery) with a new, redesigned logo . In October 2016, Grab added an in - app instant messaging called "GrabChat" to allow simple communication between riders and drivers . It also translates the messages if the languages between rider and driver are different . In December 2016, Grab introduced "GrabShare" that offers taxi and car sharing services . </P>

Describe the development of grab business in malaysia