Be Group receives investment from GSM

Be Group, the Vietnamese technology company that owns the multi-service consumer platform “Be”, and Vingroup’s Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company (GSM) have signed an investment cooperation agreement to bring electric vehicles and electric motorbikes into operation in transport services in Vietnam.

Under the agreement, Be Group will receive direct investment from GSM to become a multi-service consumer platform and provide the best technology transportation service in Vietnam.

Through financial partners, GSM will also support Be Group drivers to switch from gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles.

In the first phase of their cooperation, the two will partner with the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) to offer exclusive policy deals to Be drivers to rent or purchase VinFast electric vehicles and motorbikes.

They will also share a ride-hailing platform. Customers can choose from GSM’s electric taxi service or beCar and beTaxi when booking on the Be platform.

With economical operating costs and “no noise, no emissions” experience, electric vehicles and motorbikes will help Be Group and its drivers improve service quality and optimize business efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, General Director of GSM, said the cooperation agreement is an important step in the strategy of “greening” public transport in Vietnam that GSM is seriously and vigorously implementing. “This agreement will give hundreds of thousands of Be Group drivers the opportunity to switch to smart, modern, environmentally-friendly electric vehicles at a reasonable cost,” he added.

“We believe that our cooperation with GSM can help realize the ambition of greening the streets in a shorter time, so that users and drivers can experience safe, noise-free transportation at a fair cost,” Ms. Vu Hoang Yen, General Director of the Be Group, said. “This cooperation also demonstrates our contribution to the government’s overall policy in committing and implementing solutions towards reaching the goal of ‘net zero emissions’ by 2050.”

GSM was launched earlier this month by Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong. The company has charter capital of $125.7 million, with the Vietnamese billionaire owning a 95 per cent stake. On top of operating its own services, GSM will also provide vehicles for online and traditional taxi service providers.

Under the plan, GSM will officially put into operation the electric taxi service and lease VinFast electric vehicles and motorbikes in April, with up to 10,000 cars and 100,000 motorbikes.

Together with Be Group drivers converting to electric vehicles and motorbikes, green transport services promise to quickly explode in Vietnam in the near future.

Be Group is the startup behind the “Be” multi-service consumer platform. It provides services such as transportation, goods delivery, food delivery, grocery shopping, insurance, and telecommunications, as well as digital banking through Cake by VPBank.

Last September, it secured a loan facility of some $60 million from Deutsche Bank, with the option to increase the financing to $100 million.