GrabTaxi raises 350 mln USD from China's Didi Kuaidi, others

GrabTaxi, the taxi-hailing app rivaling Uber in Southeast Asia, has raised 350 million U.S. dollars from China's largest taxi app firm and other big names, according to a statement from the Chinese company on Wednesday.

China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), an investor in Didi Kuaidi, also joined the new round of fundraising.

Coatue Management, an existing GrabTaxi investor, is the third and final investor to front the cash for the round, which takes GrabTaxi past 650 million dollars in capital raised.

The exact share for each company in the new round of investment was not disclosed.

Liu Qing, President of Didi Kuaidi, said the cooperation with GrabTaxi will help the duo to grow, as Didi Kuaidi is willing to share its big data calculation and operation experience with GrabTaxi.

Didi Kuaidi's investment in GrabTaxi came more than a month after it raised 2 billion U.S. dollars to boost its cash reserves.

Didi Kuaidi now serves 3 million daily rides and covers 80 cities with private car services, 80-percent of the market share, and a 99-percent share, or 3 million daily rides, for the taxi-hailing market, according to data from Analysys International.

GrabTaxi said it will use the money to continue to diversify its services from taxis into private cars and motorcycles in order to serve people of varying income levels and commuting needs.

In China, Didi Kuaidi is trying to broaden its offering to Chinese riders by expanding its premium car services and a carpool offerings from its previous focus on the taxi market.

Founded in June 2012 in Malaysia, GrabTaxi serves 26 cities in six Southeast Asian countries by first connecting its users with licensed taxis. The company has since expanded to cover Uber-style private cars and a motorbike taxi service which is live in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

According to Didi Kuaidi, GrabTaxi has 110,000 drivers on its platform. Endi