Uber’s Competitor In China Raises $2 Billion

The chief Chinese ride-sharing competitor to Uber has announced it has raised $2 billion in new funding.

Didi Kuaidi, which was formed earlier this year through a merger of two rival services in China, announced the funding on Wednesday (July 8). TechCrunch said that the round values the company at $15 billion, according to unnamed sources.

The deal has been left “open” until the end of this month, the site reported, which means there could be additional input from strategic investors. In the statement announcing the funding, Didi offered some names of new investors, though not a full list — and among those being spotlighted include a few new backers, such as Ping An Ventures and Capital International Private Equity Fund. Existing investors continue to include Alibaba and Temasek, along with Tencent.

“Due to tremendous interest from global investors, the company had previously raised the financing target [which was believed to initially be $1.5 billion] and is looking to raise a further few hundred million dollars from new investors before the final closing in the coming month,” the company said in its statement, as reported by TechCrunch.

The $2 billion tally (which, of course, could increase) would come in ahead of $1.5 billion capital raises from tech stalwarts including Facebook and Uber. The Didi cash pile thus comes to at least $3.5 billion, according to the company. Uber, for its part, has stated that it will look to invest $1 billion of its own in China.

Though it dominates the traditional taxi market, with increasing competition from Uber on peer-to-peer shared rides, Didi looks to longer term goals beyond its 3 million daily ride tally. TechCrunch states the company’s three-year plan includes 30 million passengers and three-minute pickup guarantees across China.

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