The report states that with this valuation, Didi will overtake technology company, Xiaomi, which was valued at $46 billion. It will become the second most valuable private firm in the country after Ant Financial, the China-based private internet company and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holdings, valued at $60 billion. The current valuation of Didi has seen a jump of $34 billion after it entered into an agreement to acquire Uber’s China operations.
The latest funding round which is looking at participation from SoftBank Group, Silver Lake Partners, China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications, will be used for global expansion. Internationally the company has partnered with several firms for intelligent driving using AI and smart ride-hailing services. Last year, Apple also announced a $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing for co-developing a big-data algorithm to drive service and efficiency. This month Daimler, the maker of Mercedes also announced that it is in talks with Didi for a possible cooperation deal which was undisclosed.
According to the Reuters report, Didi is aggressively pushing its overseas strategy as the company might take a hit due to regulatory changes being made in the country. According to the initial draft, the company will be cutting down the number of eligible drivers and doubling the commuting price in major cities. But the regulation is not the only reason it is going international.
The company aims to become the world’s largest mobile transportation player. It invested $100 million in 99, the Brazilian ride-hailing service. In the US it invested $100 million in Lyft to merge the two and better service Chinese consumers there. Didi has invested $30 million in India based Ola Cabs and has participated in a $350 million funding round of GrabTaxi, SEA’s largest ride hailing service. About two years back Didi along with Lyft, GrabTaxi and Ola had formed a consortium for rideshare which could be accessed by 50% of the world’s population.
