Didi will soon announce a new round of $2 billion financing rumors this week, once again detonating the car market. Correspondingly, Uber, the biggest competitor of Didi, also said that it will conduct a round of financing of 1.5 billion US dollars to open up the Chinese market. The dispute over the car has been upgraded to a contest of capital.
For the new round of financing, the aspect of Drip is not commented. However, a letter from the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, Mr. Cheng Weizhi, a shareholder of the company, said that the company had previously announced that it would raise about $1.5 billion for global investors to promote the next phase of development. In the five days, this round of financing has been oversubscribed, so Didi is also planning to increase the scale of financing.
According to people close to Didi, the increase will reach $2 billion.
In December last year, Didi announced that it had received $700 million in financing, and in January this year, it also received $600 million in investment. At the time, this signal was seen as two Internet car platforms for the new round of "war" reserve ammunition. But in February of this year, the two suddenly merged and ended the burning of money that lasted for more than a year. But the calm did not last long. Soon, Uber, the car software platform from the United States, began to challenge the merged Didi, from competing users and robbing drivers to the capital war behind it.
This time, Didi quickly followed the financing of Uber after the announcement of financing, which is exactly the same as the killing of the two companies at the beginning of the year. In the context of the relevant departments still confusing the car policy, the car field has been densely smoked.
In a letter to shareholders, Cheng Wei said that on the third anniversary of the company on June 6, Didi quickly defined the company's goal for the next three years and became the world's largest one-stop travel platform with 30 million passengers per day. Provide services, serve 10 million drivers, and pick up the car in any place within 3 minutes.
Before the merger, Didi was the two biggest players in the Chinese car market. They were both ambitious and trying to build the largest travel platform in China. Especially after the merger of the two, it is widely believed that strong alliances will accelerate the realization of this goal. However, the entry of Uber and Shenzhou special cars seems to make this market abrupt changes.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, before that, as a rising star, the Shenzhou special car tried to fight with Didi in the public opinion, but for various reasons, the "gun" was finally targeted at Uber. Therefore, on June 25th, a group of “Beat U” posters of Shenzhou Special Vehicle ignited two large-scale public relations wars, and the Shenzhou special vehicle pointed to the security risks of Uber mode. Despite the controversy, from the data released later, both the Shenzhou car and Uber's APP download rankings have increased significantly.
But for Uber, the biggest competitor is not the Shenzhou car, but the drop. Uber founder Travis Karanick announced in an internal mail to the company's employees that Uber plans to expand to 50 cities in China in 2016. According to public data, Uber currently enters more than a dozen cities in China and is subject to restrictions from multiple local governments. In contrast, the data provided by the reporters of the 21st Century Business Herald on the fast-moving aspect shows that only the private car business currently covers more than 80 cities across the country.
Cheng Wei also revealed in the letter that since May, the number of daily special car orders has increased from 1 million to 3 million, a 30% increase per week, and currently accounts for 80% of the Chinese car market. However, Travis Karanick disclosed in the same way that Uber’s order for special cars in China reached 1 million.
From the data released by the company alone, whether it enters the city or the order quantity, the drop is much faster than Uber. But it also means that in the subsidy war, Didi quickly needs more funds to maintain market position. At present, the subsidy for drip is much lower than that of Uber. Cheng Wei also said that for subsidies, Drip is very cautious.
In addition to Uber, the current subsidy for the Shenzhou special car has increased, and the previous launch of the charge of 100 to 100, with the Uber truss after the trend to launch coupons. Under the background of such fierce competition, can Drip quickly be independent?
As Cheng Wei said in his letter, since its inception, Didi has encountered more than 30 competitors and participated in 9 "battles" and countless "battles." Perhaps this war is far from over. Under the aggressive offensive of the opponent, the rapid development of Drip still needs more capital to maintain and expand the market.
Story and valuation "flying together"
From the perspective of the development path of domestic Internet companies, when users reach a certain scale and the market leading position is determined, whether the company is to continue to expand the market or prepare for the IPO, it will refer to the core position of the capital level considerations.
So, what should the story of Didi be quick?
On February 14 this year, when Didi and Quick merged, the valuation was around US$6 billion; one month later, this figure reached US$8.75 billion. The above sources revealed that after the completion of this round of $2 billion financing, the valuation may be as high as $15 billion. Compared with the merger, the valuation doubled in just four months. Only Xiaomi can be matched with it.
Supporting the rapid evaluation of Didi is not only its data in the special car market, but also its comprehensive layout in the field of travel. At present, its taxi software business has been “reconciled” in various regions (such as Shanghai) and the taxi industry. Although the policy is not yet clear, the “legalization” of the special car is accelerating in the current market situation. At the same time, the merged Drip quickly launched the express, car, carpool and other services after the car, and recently announced that it will launch bus service. An Internet platform that provides a comprehensive solution for travel is gradually taking shape.
In addition to business development, there is capital expansion. It is reported that the entry of the Shenzhou special car has already touched the drop. The above-mentioned person told the 21st Century Business Herald that the quick drop is interested in investing in the acquisition of the Shenzhou special car, but there is no substantive contact yet. In this regard, the aspect of the drop is not convenient to comment.
But what is certain is that whether it is the future imagination space or the expansion of the current market, for the quick drop, the acquisition of the Shenzhou car is undoubtedly a key point to enhance the company's valuation.
On this basis, Didi is trying to expand the international market and close the distance with Uber, which also provides a new imagination for capital. The above-mentioned person said that Didi will invest in GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia and take the first step of internationalization. It is understood that the company currently covers 17 cities in 6 countries in Southeast Asia, in addition to providing taxi service, including private vehicle reservations and motorcycle reservation services.
In terms of business, Uber is a fast competitor, but in terms of capital valuation, Uber's existence is not a bad thing for Didi. The former provides a reference frame for the latter. Currently, Uber has a valuation of up to $50 billion and is only a major business. Although the Chinese market is currently unable to compete with Didi, its global layout has become a key point for its evaluation, which is also incomparable.
Compared to Uber's $50 billion valuation, the rapid spread of the entire field of distribution, despite the valuation of $15 billion, is still a far cry. Imagine if the rapid international expansion of Didi is realized, will its valuation catch up with Uber?

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