China-based ride-sharing app Didi Kuaidi has confirmed it contributed $100m to its US peer Lyft’s $680m series E round and has now inked a partnership agreement, TechCrunch reported yesteday.
Didi Kuaidi’s investment was revealed earlier this week, when it emerged that e-commerce company Alibaba and internet company Tencent had injected capital in the series E round, which closed in May 2015, as well.
Lyft and Didi Kuaidi have also now entered an agreement to enable users to book rides on each other’s services. The deal means Lyft will take payment from its users when they are in China but hail a Didi Kuaidi ride, and vice versa.
The two new partners are reportedly also in discussions to extend that collaboration to India-based peer Ola and Singapore-based offering GrabTaxi.
Founded in 2007, Lyft has received more than $1bn in funding. The series E round’s remaining investors include internet company Rakuten, which led the round, and diversified holding firm Icahn Enterprises.
Alibaba previously participated in a $250m series D round in April 2014, alongside Coatue Management, Third Point Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Mayfield Fund.