China’s top taxi app company confirms record-breaking $2 billion funding round

The money came from Capital worldwide Private Equity Fund and Ping An Ventures, as well as “several other globally renowned investors” that went unnamed.

Didi Kuaidi, which has the largest market share of car-hailing apps in China, said in a statement on Wednesday that the funding amount may rise by another “few hundred million” due to what it said was tremendous interest from global investors.

Didi and Kuaidi were rivaling companies before merging in a $6 billion deal in February, as they were backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd respectively.

The new round of funding values China’s dominant competitor to Uber Technologies Inc.at about $15 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.

It is looking to raise “a further few hundred million dollars” from new investors in the coming month, it added.

China’s ride-hailing market is a two-horse race between Uber and the Chinese startup.

While Uber’s exploits and influence in numerous largest nations is well-known at this stage, the company are still attempting to crack the biggest market of all – China – where Didi Kuadi is still officially the most-used service.

A passenger uses the Didi Kuaidi app to pay for taxi fare in this undated photo. The round marks the first time that the U.S.-based company has isolated its operations in a specific country in order to attract outside investors.

Didi Kuaidi “has established clear competitive advantages through its integrated platform, technology and team”, Chief Executive Officer Cheng Wei said in the statement.

For now the Chinese firm dominates the market, but the two are locked in a fierce battle for customers, offering both riders and drivers subsidies and discounts that are costing the companies vast sums. Didi Kuaidi’s backers include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd, while Uber has entered a strategic partnership with Chinese search engine Baidu in 2014 that included an investment in Uber’s China operations. Didi Kuaidi said today that the fundraising campaign started only two weeks ago.