Wednesday, April 24

Tag: Didi Chuxing

Uber’s Rival Grab Set To Dominate In Southeast After Largest  Ever Fundraising
FUNDING

Uber’s Rival Grab Set To Dominate In Southeast After Largest Ever Fundraising

The Singapore-based ride-hailing service is getting $2 billion worth of investment from China-based ride-hail player Didi Chuxing and Softbank. The startup also expects to raise an additional $500 million from other investors as part of this round. Provided it closes the additional sum, the company’s valuation would top $6 billion, according to a source familiar with Grab’s fundraising. The $2.5 billion round is reportedly the largest ever single financing round in Southeast Asia and demonstrates just how ferociously the powers that be are battling for ride-hailing dominance in that part of the world. The Singapore-headquartered company says it has a Southeast Asia market share of 95 percent in third-party taxi-hailing and 71 percent in private vehicle hailing. It also provides car...
Uber Infuses $8 Million into India Ops- Distributed Between Mumbai And Delhi
BUSINESS

Uber Infuses $8 Million into India Ops- Distributed Between Mumbai And Delhi

San Francisco-headquartered cab-aggregator Uber infused another amount of Rs 51.64 crore (about $7.9 million) into its Indian arms in May, documents filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs show. The money was distributed between Mumbai-based Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd which received Rs 45.2 crore ($6.9 million) and Delhi-based Uber India Technology Pvt. Ltd got Rs 6.42 crore ($991,000). The funds came from Uber’s Netherlands-based subsidiaries, Uber Holdings International BV & Uber International BV (for Uber India Systems) and Besitz Holding BV & Mieten BV (for Uber India Technology). In its effort to capture markets and acquire customers, Uber has been making losses globally. The company’s 2016 net revenue stood at $6.5 billion while adjusted net losses were $2.8 billi...
FUNDING

SoftBank Investing $5 Billion in China Ride Hailing Firm Didi Chuxing

SoftBank Group Corp said it has agreed to invest $5 billion in China's Didi Chuxing, confirming it led a recent fund-raising round by the ride-hailing firm that sources said valued Didi at more than $50 billion. Didi said last month it raised more than $5.5 billion to expand its business overseas and develop artificial intelligence technology. Sources had said investors included SoftBank. A SoftBank spokesman said on Friday the investment was related to Didi's last fund-raising round. SoftBank is trying to transform itself into the "Berkshire Hathaway of the tech industry" with the launch soon of a $100 billion technology fund as telecoms services markets mature. It has already announced plans to invest at least $25 billion over the next five years in the fund, which would be o...
FUNDING

Taiwan’s Foxconn Invests in Chinese Ride-Hailing Startup Didi Chuxing

Taiwan's Foxconn has invested $119.9 million in Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing via one of its subsidiaries, the world's largest electronics manufacturer said on Thursday, in a deal that could value the start-up at about $33.7 billion. With the addition of Foxconn, Didi's roster of investors is increasingly a who's who of global tech giants, including the likes of Apple Inc, Uber Technologies Inc and Chinese firms Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Ltd and Baidu Inc. The deal was made public in a stock exchange filing by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, the trading name of Foxconn. In the statement, Foxconn said its subsidiary Foxteq Holdings Inc would own 0.355 percent of Didi, one of China's highest-valued start-ups. The transaction gives Didi a valuation of $33.7 bill...
Didi Acquisition of Uber Was Pre-planned, Will Investigate: China
CHINA, News

Didi Acquisition of Uber Was Pre-planned, Will Investigate: China

China's commerce ministry is investigating the planned acquisition by ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing of U.S. rival Uber Technologies Inc's China unit over anti-monopoly concerns, the ministry's spokesman said on Friday. Shen Danyang told reporters the Ministry of Commerce would look to protect fair market competition and consumer interests in the deal, which will create a roughly $35 billion giant dominating China's car-hailing market. A representative for Uber could not be reached immediately for comment. A Didi spokeswoman said: "We are in communication with the authorities." It is unclear how the investigation could affect Didi's planned acquisition and subsequent integration of Uber's China unit, already the top two players in the market. That had raised monopoly concerns as D...
Didi’s Cheng Wei: Chinese Patriot Who Tamed Uber
CHINA, News

Didi’s Cheng Wei: Chinese Patriot Who Tamed Uber

Cheng Wei, 34, was once assistant to the head of a foot massage firm. Last week, his company Didi Chuxing bagged Uber's China business in a deal valuing his ride-hailing start-up at $35 billion - a second success in as many years in a gruelling battle with a rival. Investors and Didi staff say Cheng has a cool head, a keen strategic eye and a lack of ego - all pivotal in taking on and beating Uber in a two-year, multi-billion-dollar scrap for China's competitive ride-hailing market. But his leadership style is also cut-throat and tinged with nationalism, say some of those who know him. He often references China's history and military in his speeches. He will be closely watched now as he looks to turn his vast, money-losing ride-hailing company into a meaningful business. Chinese m...
Didi and Uber Join Fight Against Ola in India
News

Didi and Uber Join Fight Against Ola in India

Didi Chuxing's acquisition of Uber's China business last week reshapes the landscape in Asia's growing ride-hailing sector, and leaves India's Ola more vulnerable to attack by Uber in its $12 billion home market. Four months ago, Ola executives met with Didi hoping the Chinese firm would invest fresh capital to help it fight Uber Technologies Inc which, with its deeper pockets, has made rapid inroads into India. They were told Didi wanted first to sort out its own challenges in China, said a person with direct knowledge of Ola's plans. Didi and Uber have raised and spent billions of dollars in a discount slugfest to win drivers, passengers and market share in China. Didi, now worth around $35 billion, last year invested about $30 million in Ola, which is also backed by Japan's ...
How Apple Backing Helped China’s Taxi Aggregator Didi Chuxing To Outrun Uber in China
Story

How Apple Backing Helped China’s Taxi Aggregator Didi Chuxing To Outrun Uber in China

Apple Inc's $1 billion investment in car-hailing app Didi Chuxing in May helped accelerate Uber's decision to agree a halt to a costly two-year battle with its rival in China, people close to the companies and analysts said. Didi Chuxing Technology Co and Uber Technologies Inc raised billions of dollars in funding and spent heavily on discounted rides as they slugged it out for drivers, passengers and market share in the world's second-biggest economy. Uber finally ceded this week, realizing it was no match for a cash-rich rival with the backing of three of the world's largest technology giants. It agreed to give up its independence in return for a nearly one-fifth stake in a bigger Didi. Didi raised far more money than Uber China making China the first market where Uber's strategy of...
Lyft, Ola’s Global Partner Finally Steps Out Of US
BUSINESS

Lyft, Ola’s Global Partner Finally Steps Out Of US

Ola's global partner Lyft Inc. now ready to open up outside its home US. The second-largest US ride-hailing company will "very likely" expand to other countries, said John Zimmer, the president and co-founder of Lyft. Against its rival Uber, Lyft has so far focused only on US, while Uber expands in several countries of the world. The smaller San Francisco startup is defending its home turf from Uber partly by spending aggressively on marketing, including promotions targeted at riders and drivers in major US cities. Speaking onstage at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, Zimmer didn't specify when the company might expand or where it plans to go. A Lyft spokesman declined to comment. Lyft's global alliance includes China's Didi Chuxing, India's Ola and Sou...
Uber Aims to Overtake China Market Leader Didi in 2017
CHINA

Uber Aims to Overtake China Market Leader Didi in 2017

Ride-hailing app Uber expects to continue on a "rapid growth" path in China, hoping to surpass market leader Didi Chuxing in 2017, Uber China's head of strategy said on Friday. The company has been in fierce competition with Didi Chuxing, which is backed by Internet giants Alibaba Group and Tencent, across China. Uber's market share in China has grown to about 30% now from 1% in 2015, Liu Zhen said at The Wall Street Journal's Converge technology conference in Hong Kong. Both companies have spent heavily to subsidise fares to gain market share in the country, raising speculation in local media that they might ultimately join forces. Didi itself teamed up with a former local rival last year. "I heard the noise a lot and got asked that a lot about this (a tie-up with Didi)," ...
Why Did Apple Invest $1billion in Didi (China)?
Story

Why Did Apple Invest $1billion in Didi (China)?

From last 2-3 days, we were discussing a topic daily in our team meeting that Why Apple invested $1Billion in Chinese Taxi aggregator Didi xihuang? Why an iPhone maker company changes its strategy? Is this a master stroke from Apple to convince chinese government that they are not US based company only? Or Apple wants to show chinese people that they are ready to invests on chinese people on the theory of "if you care about us, we care about you"? Or A Gameplan from chinese government to show the world that how world's most innovative smartphone company depended heavily on China? Yesterday, I was watching a youtube video of Jack Ma (Alibaba founder) speech in Harward university, where he said that at business point both country's China and America should support and mai...
FUNDING

Apple Invests $1 Billion in Chinese Ride-Hailing Service Didi Chuxing

Apple Inc said on Thursday it has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, a move that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the critical Chinese market. The tech giant's rare investment gives it a stake in two burgeoning waves of technology - the sharing economy and car technology - as the iPhone business that propelled it to record profitability shows signs of maturing. Apple is trying to reinvigorate sales in China, where it has come under greater pressure from regulators, and Cook is traveling to the country this month. The move aligns Apple with Uber Technologies Inc's chief rival in China, as automakers and technology companies forge new alliances and make cross investments. General Motors, for example, recently...