Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

CHINA’S ride-hailing startup Didi Kuaidi Joint Co. said Wednesday that it raised US$2 billion in a fundraising round as competition with U.S. rival Uber Technologies Inc. heats up on its home turf.

Capital International Private Equity Fund and several other globally renowned investors joined the ranks of investors this round. Alibaba, Tencent, Temasek, Coatue Management and a number of existing stakeholders also participated in the fundraising.

Didi Kuaidi, which has the largest market share of car-hailing apps in China, said in a statement that the funding amount may rise by another “few hundred million” due to what it said was tremendous interest from global investors.

Didi Kuaidi said the fundraising would lift its cash reserves to US$3.5 billion, making the firm the largest by cash reserves within China’s mobile Internet industry.

This fundraising round is the world’s largest single fundraising by any private company of all time, as well as the largest fundraising for a Chinese mobile Internet company. In 2011, Facebook and Airbnb each raised US$1.5 billion in their latest fundraising rounds.

Didi Kuaidi’s latest fundraising, which sources say values the company as high as US$15 billion, will intensify its battle with Uber, which recently said it would spend more than US$1 billion in the world’s second-largest economy as it continues an aggressive ramp-up.

Didi Kuaidi integrates various transport solutions, including taxis, private cars, social ridesharing and enterprise solutions and plans to add carpooling, chauffeurs and bus services in the future. Didi Kuaidi serves three million riders daily and has a presence in 80 cities.