Car-hailing giant Didi raises $4 billion USD in latest funding round

China's leading car-hailing firm Didi Chuxing announced the completion of a new equity funding round for over $4 billion US dollars on December 21, 2017.

Photo shows the logo of car-hailing service Didi Chuxing. [File photo: VCG]

Both Chinese and international institutions joined the latest round of fundraising. Japanese telecommunications company Softbank and Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala are among the investors, reports thepaper.cn.

Backed by a substantial cash reserve, Didi plans to scale up its investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) talent and technologies to further develop its intelligent driving and smart transportation capabilities.

The company will also embark on initiatives to build new energy vehicle service networks, as part of its efforts to lead the transformation of the automobile and transportation industries.

Cheng Wei, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Didi, announced in November that the company would cooperate with the Global Energy Interconnection Development Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) in a joint venture to establish a global new energy automobile service company. The new company will support the new energy automotive industry through the construction of new energy vehicle charging systems, battery recycling, and other related infrastructure. Before 2020, more than 1 million new energy vehicles will be part of the platform.

Sun Zhengyi, chairman and President of Softbank, is also vice chairman of the Global Energy Interconnection Development Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO).

Softbank invests in fields including electronic commerce, telecommunications, and science and technology. Softbank's investment in Alibaba in its early years is one of the company's notable successes. Recently, Softbank reported that it intends to invest $10 billion US dollars in Uber, a leader in the global market for car-hailing services.