Rumor: Xiaoju Kuaizhi to Invest in Southeast Asian Taxi App 'GrabTaxi'
36Kr.com, 6/29/15
An unnamed source from the investment community has revealed that Xiaoju Kuaizhi, operator of Chinese mobile taxi booking apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, is in talks to invest in GrabTaxi Holdings, operator of Southeast Asian taxi app GrabTaxi. The size of the investment is not yet known. GrabTaxi is the number one competitor for San Francisco-based car hire service Uber in Southeast Asia. Some analysts believe the move belies Xiaoju Kuaizhi's goal to hasten expansion into foreign markets and compete with Uber on a global scale.
By the end of 2014, GrabTaxi had already expanded to 17 cities in 6 Southeast Asian countries. In December 2014, Japanese telecommunications and media holding company Softbank invested USD 250 mln in GrabTaxi, making it the single largest shareholder. SoftBank is also an investor in Xiaoju Kuaizhi. Hedge fund Tiger Global is also an investor in both GrabTaxi Holdings and Xiaoju Kuaizhi.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Qunar Invests in SE Asian Taxi App GrabTaxi," MD 6/03/14 issue.
Keywords: overseas M&A wireless Softbank taxi booking app Xiaoju Kuaizhi GrabTaxi Didi Kuaidi Southeast Asia mobile application