UCar, the chauffeured ride ordering platform spun out by China-based car rental firm CAR, has been approved for an initial public offering on China’s Neeq market, China Money Network reported today.
Launched in January 2015, UCar provides a chauffeured lift service that can be booked through its app. In contrast to the likes of Uber or Didi Chuxing which simply act as a conduit to the drivers, the company also owns its fleet.
CAR invested $125m in the company in July 2015, before Legend Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings, joined private equity firm Warburg Pincus to invest another $550m two months afterward.
E-commerce group Alibaba paid $432m for a 9.8% stake in the company as part of a $568m funding round officially closed in April 2016, transferring that equity to affiliate funds Yunfeng Capital and Yunling Capital.
China International Capital Corp, Citic Securities and Shenwan Hongyuan also contributed to the 2016 round.
UCar made a net loss of about RMB3.7bn ($554m) from revenue of RMB1.7bn ($254m) in 2015, according to the IPO filing.
– Image courtesy of UCar.