UPDATED 00:25 EDT / DECEMBER 21 2017

EMERGING TECH

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing raises $4B in latest funding round

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. has raised $4 billion in a new round that is reported to have included SoftBank Group Corp. and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company PJSC.

The company said in a statement that it would use the new funding to support artificial intelligence capacity-building, international expansion and new business initiatives, including the development of new energy vehicle service networks.

Didi Chuxing is hardly short on cash coming into the round, having raised $5.5 billion in April this year and $7 billion in June 2016. But it has broader ambitions in the market than simply being China’s leading ride-hailing company, including the development of self-driving cars and a network to support them. The company opened the doors on a dedicated research and development center in Silicon Valley in March, saying at the time that it was aiming to develop “intelligent transportation ecosystems for the future,” including autonomous vehicles. It faces hundreds of other companies developing autonomous vehicle technologies.

The other interesting takeaway from the funding announcement is that the company is tying the funding to further international expansion. It was reported earlier this month that Didi was planning on expanding into Mexico, although with $4 billion in additional funding, its ambitions may be broader yet, and in all cases that will take it head-to-head with Uber Inc.

Didi versus Uber is a strange matchup because of their shared ownership. Didi owns Uber China, while Uber holds a 20 percent stake in Didi. That means that if Didi beats Uber in any market it enters, Uber will also directly benefit via its shareholding. On top of that, SoftBank is a major investor in both, potentially hedging its bets on the expectation one of them will be left standing in 10 to 15 years’ time.

Photo: iphonedigital/Flickr

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