From Grab to GoTo, Southeast Asia's startups weather funding winter

SINGAPORE -- When Grab Holdings, Southeast Asia's largest ride-hailing operator, announced its first quarterly net profit last month, it was supposed to signal the company's resurrection.

The $11 million profit in the three months to December was a milestone, the first time in the black since Grab's founding over a decade ago, and up from a $391 million loss in the same period a year earlier. The company also announced its first-ever stock buyback plan of up to $500 million.