Didi Kuaidi and Uber, the leading rivals in the ride-hailing market of China, have announced new funding and market expansion plans, back to back.
Few days ago, a Chinese leaked memo showed that Uber is planning on raising 1 billion US dollars in order to overdrive their market funding to expand their services in China. The very next day, the Wall Street Journal reported that Didi-Kuaidi, China's largest taxi app firm and a rival of Uber, is also out to raise 1.5 billion US dollars in a few months to work on their expansion in China.
In Jan. 11, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quoted that UberChina, an independent operating unit of Uber in China, has closed its first round of funding with an estimate of 7 billion US dollars at hand. Forbes reported that the need for Uber to raise such stake was to fight an uphill battle with China's Didi Kuaidi.
The next day, Jan. 12, Didi Kuaidi also declared that they have completed more than 200 million rides in the month of December. Didi Kuaidi's circles reveal that it intends to extend its services to auto and e-commerce sectors. The company is said to have also raised 4 billion US dollars at a valuation of $16 billion, thus raising the funding as twice as valuable as its rivals unit.
Both companies have recently started a cold war between them, both on the mainland China and in Hong Kong. Despite Uber's high efforts, Didi Kuaidi still remains as a leader in Chinese markets. Hence, Uber is under great pressure to top the chart this year.
Based on Reuter's reports, Kalanick, who was in Beijing for an event, also quoted that Uber is willing to invest profits from other cities around the globe for making solid expansions in China.
See the Top ride-hailing service providers as of to date: