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China’s Ride-Sharing App Didi Raises $4B in New Funding

2 points by myroon5 9y ago

myroon5 9y ago
"BEIJING—China’s ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxing Technology Co. has raised $4 billion in its latest round of funding, according to people familiar with the matter. Investors of the Beijing-based ride-sharing app, which is expected to list next year, include Japanese tech giant SoftBank Corp. and Mubadala Capital, a Abu Dhabi state fund, these people said. The new money is earmarked for artificial intelligence efforts and international expansion. Didi carries a valuation of more than $50 billion, making it one of Asia’s largest startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The company also now has $12 billion in cash reserves, including the latest investment, up from $3.5 billion two years ago, these people said. After purchasing Uber Technologies Inc.’s Chinese operations last year, Didi has been working on pushing its business abroad. In March, Didi opened a research and development lab in Silicon Valley to focus on intelligent driving technologies and AI-based security. The lab now has about 100 staff. The company also is looking to expand to Taiwan with a local partner, LEDI Technology Co. Some of the money Didi raised will go toward building out an electric car charging network. Didi has said more than 260,000 cars on Didi’s platform are electric and the company aims to increase that number to 1 million by 2020."
Fricken 9y ago
$12 billion to blow on growth, wow, it makes Uber look like small potatoes. After curb stomping Kalanick in China, Didi has become, like, the Mechagodzilla of global rideshare. There are 4 big ones: Ola, Grab, Uber and Didi. Masayoshi Son has billion+ bets on all of them. The future is in the developing world, where secure cashless transactions, sophisticated transportation logistics, and accountability are all relatively new phenomena. Who is going to win the race to colonize and civilize the fractured and feudal world of Hodge Podge megapolitan transportation logistics? SoftBank don't care, it believes in demographics, there'll be 2 billion more people coming into the world over the next quarter century and almost all will live in fast growing cities where infrastructure can't keep up. The population of Karachi grew 80% between 2000 and 2010, to 20 million. Try to picture that happening to your city. Where cash strapped regional governments are completely overwhelmed well-heeled privateers are stepping in with Darwinian solutions. On my last trip to Indo I counted 21 people in a pickup truck, 5 in the cabin and 16 in the back.

2 points by myroon5 9y ago

"BEIJING—China’s ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxing Technology Co. has raised $4 billion in its latest round of funding, according to people familiar with the matter. Investors of the Beijing-based ride-sharing app, which is expected to list next year, include Japanese tech giant SoftBank Corp. and Mubadala Capital, a Abu Dhabi state fund, these people said. The new money is earmarked for artificial intelligence efforts and international expansion. Didi carries a valuation of more than $50 billion, making it one of Asia’s largest startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The company also now has $12 billion in cash reserves, including the latest investment, up from $3.5 billion two years ago, these people said. After purchasing Uber Technologies Inc.’s Chinese operations last year, Didi has been working on pushing its business abroad. In March, Didi opened a research and development lab in Silicon Valley to focus on intelligent driving technologies and AI-based security. The lab now has about 100 staff. The company also is looking to expand to Taiwan with a local partner, LEDI Technology Co. Some of the money Didi raised will go toward building out an electric car charging network. Didi has said more than 260,000 cars on Didi’s platform are electric and the company aims to increase that number to 1 million by 2020."

Fricken 9y ago

$12 billion to blow on growth, wow, it makes Uber look like small potatoes. After curb stomping Kalanick in China, Didi has become, like, the Mechagodzilla of global rideshare. There are 4 big ones: Ola, Grab, Uber and Didi. Masayoshi Son has billion+ bets on all of them. The future is in the developing world, where secure cashless transactions, sophisticated transportation logistics, and accountability are all relatively new phenomena. Who is going to win the race to colonize and civilize the fractured and feudal world of Hodge Podge megapolitan transportation logistics? SoftBank don't care, it believes in demographics, there'll be 2 billion more people coming into the world over the next quarter century and almost all will live in fast growing cities where infrastructure can't keep up. The population of Karachi grew 80% between 2000 and 2010, to 20 million. Try to picture that happening to your city. Where cash strapped regional governments are completely overwhelmed well-heeled privateers are stepping in with Darwinian solutions. On my last trip to Indo I counted 21 people in a pickup truck, 5 in the cabin and 16 in the back.