ride hailing services

Chinese Ride Sharing Giant DiDi Chuxing Is Coming To North America

8Dec By RishabhNo Comments

USA

Chinese Ride Sharing Giant DiDi Chuxing Is Coming To North America

Beijing, China's ride hailing giant Didi Chuxing is planning to expand its services to expand to Mexico by next year, marking the company's first international expansion move. This also signals a new phase of competition with global ride sharing company Uber, which quit its Chinese business by selling it to Didi in 2016 after lengthy and expensive battle. After Uber, Didi Chuxing is the most valued privately owned firm in the world. Its decision to begin recruiting drivers and offering rides in Mexico will surely be seen as shot across Uber's bow at a time when the company witnessed a series of self-inflicted scandals. Didi right now has no card outside China, but will be launching an app in the Mexico and recruit local drivers. It is unclear which cities Didi will target, althoug...

Will SoftBank Ditch Uber And Invest In Rival Lyft?

7Nov By RishabhNo Comments

BUSINESS

Will SoftBank Ditch Uber And Invest In Rival Lyft?

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday said he could still walk away from the deal between SoftBank Group Corp and Uber, after the negotiations for stake in the cab aggregator platform. He also added that perhaps the company may even invest in Uber's rival Lyft. “Depending on the price and conditions, it is wholly possible we could shift our investment to the other main company Lyft. It is wholly possible,” Son said at a press conference following SoftBank’s second-quarter earnings. “We won’t know until the very end.” The negotiations are on regarding the price of the stakes in Uber, half of which will come from existing Uber shareholders, and if arriving at a price becomes difficult, he will invest in Lyft Inc. He also mentioned about the conditions such as the number of board members, th...

Ola Confirms $1.1 Bn Fund Raise From Tencent Holdings

11Oct By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Ola Confirms $1.1 Bn Fund Raise From Tencent Holdings

One of India's unicorn, Ola, operated by ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd has confirmed that it has closed a $1.1 billion funding from Tencent Holdings, a leading Chinese internet company. The round also saw participation from its existing investor- SoftBank Group and other new US-based financial investors. Ola also said that it is in advanced talks with existing and another investor to raise additional $1 billion, thus rounding off what may turn out to be a $2 billion funding round. After a billion scale funding received by Flipkart and Paytm, Ola is the third one to receive such massive funding this year. Flipkart leads them by having raised at least $2.8 billion in two separate tranches from SoftBank, Tencent, eBay and Microsoft, followed by Paytm which raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank....

Uber Suspends Unlicensed Service in Norway in Change of Tack

9Oct By reutersNo Comments

News

Uber Suspends Unlicensed Service in Norway in Change of Tack

Uber said on Monday it would suspend its unlicensed service UberPOP in Oslo until Norway introduces new rules, as the U.S. ride-hailing app adopts a more conciliatory tone with national authorities. The move follows a similar one-year suspension in Finland in July to allow a new taxi law to come into effect, however there is no set date for when UberPOP will be reintroduced in Norway. The U.S. ride-hailing company has come under fierce pressure from traditional taxi drivers and regulators across Europe who accuse it of unfair competition and skirting traditional licensing rules. UberPOP has already been suspended in several European capitals, including Paris and Brussels, and Uber was recently humbled when it lost its licence to operate in London. “We’ve learned the hard way that...

Ola Raises $2 Bn From SoftBank Group And Tencent Holdings

3Oct By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Ola Raises $2 Bn From SoftBank Group And Tencent Holdings

Another Indian Unicorn saw $2 billion fund raising on Monday. Ola- India's ride hailing company raises $2 billion from SoftBank Group Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd, another high profile funding in this year after Flipkart which competes with Amazon. Although as per the Bloomberg's report the amount is not fixed for now and can change in the process. However as per The Economic Times Tencent has finalized an investment of $400 million in Ola, valuing the company over $3.8 billion. The paperwork from both the companies has been finalized and awaits approval from CCI. This funding will impact its rival Uber's position in India, on the one end where it is facing licence ban in London and multiple allegations. Other backers in the ride-hailing startup’s latest financing round included ...