2018 has been a rough year for China’s bike-sharing giants. Alibaba-backed Ofo pulled out of dozens of international cities as it fought with a severe cash crunch. Tencent-backed Mobike puts a brake on expansion after it was sold to neighborhood services provider Meituan Dianping. But one newcomer is pedaling against the wind. Hellobike, currently the country’s […]
View More Alibaba-backed Hellobike bags new funds as it marches into ride-hailingCategory: didi
SoftBank’s Vision Fund is preparing to invest $1 billion in Grab
SoftBank’s Vision Fund is set to continue its recent spree of investments in Asian tech unicorns. The mega fund — which is targeted at $100 billion — is planning to invest upwards of $1 billion into Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing leader Grab, two sources with knowledge of the plan told TechCrunch. The investment could reach as much […]
View More SoftBank’s Vision Fund is preparing to invest $1 billion in GrabBMW’s premium ride-hailing service is now live in China
BMW has joined a handful of automakers to compete with transportation upstart Didi Chuxing, which bought Uber’s Chinese business in 2016. Last Friday, the German luxury carmaker launched a premium ride-hailing service in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan Province with over 14 million people. The new offer is part of BMW’s ReachNow carsharing brand that kicked […]
View More BMW’s premium ride-hailing service is now live in ChinaFoxconn or Foxgone? Tariffs, Wisconsin, and iPhone fires
First some notes on SoftBank’s rumored expansion into China and its weird fund math, then Foxconn, and then quick notes on tech depression, Huawei, and more. TechCrunch is experimenting with new content forms. This is a rough draft of something new – provide your feedback directly to the author (Danny at danny@techcrunch.com) if you like […]
View More Foxconn or Foxgone? Tariffs, Wisconsin, and iPhone firesChina’s Didi restructures key units to improve safety following passenger deaths
China’s largest ride-hailing operator Didi Chuxing announced on Wednesday a major restructuring, which trails a series of tweaks to its core businesses following two separate passenger murders that happened in May and September. The reshuffle will see Didi — which owns Uber’s China business — knit three key platforms into a new overarching Ride-hailing Business Group […]
View More China’s Didi restructures key units to improve safety following passenger deathsChina’s Didi adds driver training program to counter sharp decline in rides
Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing company by number of users, has been struggling to recover from a major setback following the deaths of two passengers earlier this year. On Wednesday, its founder and CEO Cheng Wei released a letter detailing the company’s moves to step up safety oversight and meet new government rules, including a training […]
View More China’s Didi adds driver training program to counter sharp decline in ridesAlibaba-backed parenting site Babytree starts taking orders for downsized IPO
A lot of Chinese millennials may be delaying or opting out of childbearing, but those who have committed to parenting often go all out to ensure their children grow up healthy and do well in school. One company capitalizing on China’s booming mother and infant industry – which is expected to double in market valuation […]
View More Alibaba-backed parenting site Babytree starts taking orders for downsized IPOMeituan, China’s ‘everything app’, walks away from bike sharing and ride hailing
A major player in the race to transport Chinese people around is losing steam. Meituan Dianping, the Tencent-backed all-encompassing platform for local services, continues to put the brakes on bike-sharing and ride-hailing, the company said on its earnings call on Thursday. The eight-year-old firm is best known for competing with Alibaba-owned Ele.me in food deliveries […]
View More Meituan, China’s ‘everything app’, walks away from bike sharing and ride hailingMexican venture firm ALL VP has a $73 million first close on its latest fund
Buoyed by international attention from U.S. and Chinese investors and technology companies, new financing keeps flowing into the coffers of Latin American venture capital firms. One day after the Brazilian-based pan-Latin American announced the close of its $150 million latest fund comes word from our sources that ALL VP, the Mexico City-based, early stage technology […]
View More Mexican venture firm ALL VP has a $73 million first close on its latest fundChina’s Didi Chuxing is poised to expand into hotel bookings
China’s largest ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing is entering the hotel-booking business as it strives to recover from two highly publicized murders of female passengers by drivers on its platform. That’s according to Chinese business magazine Caijing and tech news site 36kr (links in Chinese). R-Lab, the unit in charge of Didi’s new venture, is aptly […]
View More China’s Didi Chuxing is poised to expand into hotel bookingsSoutheast Asia’s Grab pulls in $200M from travel giant Booking
Fresh from a strategic investment from Microsoft, Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing leader Grab is back in the money again after it closed $200 million in fresh capital from Booking Holdings, the travel firm formerly known as Priceline. The investment is part of an ongoing round of funding that Grab said is on course to reach $3 […]
View More Southeast Asia’s Grab pulls in $200M from travel giant BookingSoftBank and Toyota team up to develop services powered by self-driving vehicles
SoftBank is getting into self-driving car services after the Japanese tech giant announced a joint-venture with Toyota in its native Japan. SoftBank is invested in Uber and a range of other ride-hailing startups like Didi in China and Grab in Southeast Asia, but this initiative with Toyota is not related to those deals. Instead, it […]
View More SoftBank and Toyota team up to develop services powered by self-driving vehicles