App-based transportation services in China namely Uber Technologies Inc. and Didi Kuaidi are in for the sponsor-funding battle as the former had received $1.2 billion worth of fundraising money while the latter has announced that it had raised $3 billion.
A Chinese-language website called Sina Tech was the first to release the announcement made by Uber while Bloomberg became the first source of the Didi Kuaidi news.
While Travis Kalanick, the CEO and founder of Uber confirmed the current values with Sina Tech, he said that the total amount of funds cannot be finalized yet as the round is still not over and that the number might still shoot up. Should this projected increase ensue, Uber will be facing its biggest venture capital round investment. The company, however, did not reveal the name of their investors, as well as the data of deal closure.
Didi Kuaidi is said to have a value of about $16.5 billion according to the most recent round of financing values, says a source, who requested not to be named due to privacy reasons. The company chose not to comment on its financing state. In July 2015, the value of the company was said to be around $15 billion and according to Jean Liu, Didi Kuaili president, the company is not closing its doors to encouraging more investors it considers valuable after sealing $2 billion in funds. The company also said at that time that a "few hundred million dollars" more will be asked from new investors before finalization in the coming month takes place.
App-based transportation companies have been able to garner lots of supporters due to the hassles of calling out cabs on the streets. Both Uber and Didi Kuaidi have been involved in the race for market shares, coming up with different ways to entice drivers and customers. Through the fundings received by both Uber and Didi Kuaidi from investors, they will be helped to shoulder the expenses entailed in expanding their services.
In 2015, Uber is looking at stashing $1 billion in one of the world's most populous countries. Didi Kuaidi, on the other hand, declared that they will be giving out about $161 billion worth of rides to consumers to up their level of game against competitors.
Photo: Carlos ZGZ | Flickr
