Spain-based ride hailing company Cabify has secured $120m in a series C round led by e-commerce firm Rakuten that valued it at $320m post-money, TechCrunch reported today.
Cabify operates a ride booking service that spans 14 cities across Spain, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia. It plans to use the series C capital to expand into new markets beginning with Argentina and Brazil.
The other series C participants have not been disclosed, but Cabify CEO Juan de Antonio told TechCrunch they did not include any other strategic investors.
Cabify does however plan to form partnerships with counterparts in other markets, such as Lyft, which is also a Rakuten portfolio company, and Didi Kuaidi, in order to compete against Uber. It also wants to forge connections with carmakers.
De Antonio said: “Two things I can concentrate on now that the funding has closed are establishing connections with other apps in other parts of the world, and looking for partnerships with car manufacturers.
“We are both an opportunity and a threat for car companies as the idea of companies like ours replacing vehicle ownership becomes more of a reality.”
Rakuten led the round as a returning investor, having also led Cabify’s $12m series B round in October 2015, investing alongside venture capital firm Seaya Ventures and undisclosed existing backers.
Cabify had previously raised approximately $14.5m from investors including Seaya, Hit Forge, Red Swan Ventures, Maurice Werdegar, Resolute Partners and various Latin American angel investors.
Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, managing director at Rakuten FinTech Fund and Cabify board member, said:“Cabify is rapidly consolidating its position with a very systematic and disruptive approach and Rakuten is passionate about empowering leadership in innovation.
“Cabify has an outstanding management team led by Juan de Antonio, whose vision uniquely places Cabify in a position to enter the next level of technological competition.”