BY any measure, the April 2016 decision by Uber Technologies Inc to sell its China operations to rival Didi Chuxing was a defeat. The brief but spectacular battle between the two ride-hailing behemoths had cost Uber at least US$2 billion and earned it little more than the enmity of the Chinese government. The only silver lining seemed to be that Uber, free of an expensive price war, could focus its resources on other markets, including rapidly growing South-east Asia.

That's now going to be a lot harder. Earlier this week, GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd, South-east Asia's dominant ride-hailing company, announced it had raised US$2 billion (with another US$500 million on the way) to help it lock up the region. The company was already well ahead of Uber locally, thanks to a deft business plan that focused on meeting the needs of the South-east Asian consumer, especially in payments. The fresh funds should widen that lead - and call into question whether Uber's one-app-fits-all approach to the global ride-hailing business can work.

On paper, at least, the 10 very different countries comprising South-east Asia seem exactly like the kind of market in which a well-capitalised global technology company such as Uber should prosper. The region is now the world's fourth-largest Internet market, with just over half of its 640 million citizens online. Those ranks are growing rapidly, swelled by young, middle-class consumers eager to spend.