Brazil-based ride hailing platform 99 has raised more than $100m in a round led by China-based contemporary Didi Chuxing, Reuters reported yesterday.
Founded in 2012 as 99Taxi, 99 operates a ride service that offers taxis and chauffeured cars to customers in 550 cities and towns in Brazil. More than 140,000 drivers are registered to the service and the company’s app has been downloaded more than 10 million times.
Didi Chuxing will take a seat on 99’s board of directors in conjunction with the round and will provide strategic assistance with regard to technology, product development, operations and business planning. 99 will use the cash to expand to other Latin American markets.
The round follows $25m in funding closed by 99 in April 2015 from Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for wireless technology provider Qualcomm, investment firm Tiger Global and venture capital firm Monashees.
Qualcomm and Monashees had already invested an undisclosed amount in 99Taxi in 2013.
Cheng Wei, CEO of Didi Chuxing, said in a statement: “We seek to work with new global partners to ensure the creation of new and better mobility services, as well as generating new job opportunities for our cities as we reshape the future of the transport system in the world.”