Southeast Asian transport app GrabTaxi raised more than $350 million from investors including China’s largest taxi app firm Didi Kuaidi and China Investment Corporation.
It plans to use the funds to expand its vehicle hire and motorbike booking services and invest in technology.
“Diversifying into private cars and motorbikes has allowed us to touch people of varying income levels and commuting needs. We are the only app in the region that has such an extensive network and range of transportation choices,” CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said in a statement.
In total, the company said it has 110,000 drivers on its platform with 11 bookings made per second.
According to TechCrunch, its mobile apps — iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry — have had over 6.1 million downloads, a big jump from 2.1 million in October.
The report also said GrabTaxi will use its funds to continue to diversify its services. It is testing a courier service in Thailand and wants to invest in engineering and staffing.
Earlier this year, it announced a $100 million investment in a data centre in Singapore.
GrabTaxi is available in 26 cities across six countries in Southeast Asia with Uber, its main rival, also present in each of those markets.
In December, SoftBank, which also has a stake in Didi Kuaidi, invested $250 million in the startup, valuing it at $1 billion.
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