Ride-hailing app Uber has raised another $1.2 billion, as the company looks to expand into 100 Chinese cities over the next 12 months. Technology giant Baidu provided the funding, which was announced in an event in Beijing. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick stated at the announcement that Uber had increased its market share in China from 1% nine months ago to 30-35% currently. Uber has now raised $8.2 billion over the past five years but the San Francisco-based company faces stiff competition in China…
Uber’s biggest competitor in China, Didi Kuaidi, has reportedly raised another $1 billion in funding, after announcing $2 billion in July. The company had initially said that it would raise a few hundred million more after its July announcement, due to high interest from global investors. But Reuters now reports that the figure is $1 billion, although the company has not confirmed or denied that number. Bloomberg reports that the investment values Didi Kuaidi – the market leader in China – at $16.5 billion. Didi Kuaidi’s investors include Tencent and Alibaba.
France’s own transportation app BlaBlaCar also got in on the action recently, reportedly raising $160 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion, according to TechCrunch. The company has a slightly different offering to Uber and Didi Kuaidi however, focusing on long distance ride sharing. Users of the app can find drivers who are driving from one city to another, and book a seat in their vehicle in advance. Drivers can make extra money from their trips, and BlaBlaCar takes a small cut from every ride. A little over a year ago the company raised $100 million and TechCrunch reports that the latest round will involve Insight Venture Partners.
Restaurant search service Zomato has raised $60 million in funding from Temasek Holdings and Vy Capital. The India-based company is also launching a white label service to help restaurants get online. “More of our markets have turned profitable recently and we are well capitalised for the next two years, putting us in a great position to extend our business verticals to more global markets. Just last week, we launched our online ordering services in the UAE, and will soon be rolling it out to Australia and South Africa,” Zomato’s chief financial officer Umesh Hora explained in a blog post.