The new financing could bring Didi Chuxing back into competition with Uber: Analysts expect the Chinese
company to use the funds to push into new markets and to develop autonomous driving technologies.
With New Funding, Didi Chuxing, an Uber Rival, Looks Beyond China -
By PAUL MOZURAPRIL 28, 2017
When Uber pulled out of China last summer, it appeared to be the end of two years of frenzied competition with the local rival Didi Chuxing.
The investors in the new round included SoftBank in Japan
and Silver Lake Kraftwerk in the United States as well as the Chinese institutions China Merchants Bank and the Bank of Communications, according to the person familiar with the matter.
The Chinese smartphone company was once the world’s most valuable start-up, yet
it has struggled with domestic competition and a mixed performance overseas.
Although it is a member of a loose alliance of ride-sharing companies
that includes the Uber rival Lyft, it has little experience breaking into new foreign markets.
Yet with a new funding round that has brought in $5.5 billion, it seems the Chinese firm wants to take the rivalry global.