Uber China, which acts as ride hailing company Uber’s Chinese subsidiary, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from corporate investors, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The China-based investors were airliner HNA Group, automotive manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile and insurance firm China Life Insurance, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick disclosed in a speech in Beijing.
Although the amount secured by Uber China was not revealed, reports in September 2015 suggested it had targeted $1.5bn for its next equity round. It received the funding at a $7bn pre-money valuation, the same as its valuation after a $1bn round in August 2015.
Uber China was formed by Uber in 2015 to compete against the country’s market leader, Didi Kuaidi, and pledged to invest $1bn in that aim, though it remains in second place in China.
Didi Kuaidi announced yesterday it booked 1.43 billion rides across its various transit services in 2015, 200 million of which came in December alone. In comparison, Uber passed the one billion mark worldwide last month.
The investors in the August round, which eventually grew to $1.2bn according to the WSJ, included China Life, internet services company Baidu, Citic Bank and, according to a source, insurer Ping An and hedge fund Hillhouse Capital, though their participation has not been confirmed.