Uber's web of partners gets more complex with Didi investment

Uber's network has become so much bigger — and more complex — than the cars it navigates around the world.

The San Francisco-based company has connected itself to Didi Chuxing, the most popular ride-hailing service in China and its former rival. Uber will sell its operation in China to Didi, Bloomberg first reported, and the business will transform into a new entity valued at $35 billion. 

It's not just Uber buying into Didi. Uber will take a 20 percent stake in the combined company, while Didi will invest $1 billion into Uber. 

The ridehailing industry had already been a tangled web of interests thanks to a variety of investments from some of the biggest and most influential tech companies in the world, not to mention a few car companies and banks.

Now, with the combination of Uber and Didi, it's even more complex. Here's a breakdown of some of the partnerships and investments:

Softbank + Tencent + Alibaba + Apple = Didi 

Didi itself was created from the merger of two separate taxi apps, Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache, in February 2015. Both were backed by Asia-based tech giants. 

Kuaidi Dache's investors included e-commerce giant Alibaba and Japanese telecom Softbank. Internet and media giant Tencent was an investor in Didi and is the largest shareholder in the combined company, according to Bloomberg. 

Apple added itself into the mix this year. In May, the world's most valuable company invested $1 billion in Didi. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the investment aligned with the company's interest in China. Apple is also committed to developing autonomous vehicles, or driverless cars.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quipped on the Apple-Didi deal at the time: 

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travis kalanick 

✔@travisk

girlfriend owns @apple shares which makes her a didi investor...#Smh #ridesharewars #domesticissues #thanksALotTim

12:10 PM - 13 May 2016

 
•  1,5231,523 Retweets
 
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Didi also formed previous alliances with companies outside of Uber. In December 2015, Didi inked a strategic partnership with Ola in India, GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia and Lyft, Uber's largest competitor in the United States.

Didi also invested $100 million in Lyft during its $530 million funding round in 2015 as well as Ola and GrabTaxi. 

Didi + Alibaba + General Motors = Lyft 

Lyft's valuation of $5.5 billion may pale in comparison to Uber's $68 billion, yet the competitive service has teamed up with several other wealthy partners in its effort to take on the giant. 

Alibaba participated in Lyft's $250 million funding round for a Series D in 2014. Tencent and Didi both invested in Lyft in the following round in 2015.

In January 2016, General Motors invested $500 million, taking ownership of half of the latest funding round. 

The automaker said it was interested in Lyft's commitment to mobility for its initiative in autonomous vehicles. 

Baidu + Google + Microsoft + Saudi Arabia = Uber

Uber has raised a massive war chest to compete in what Kalanick and others have dubbed the "ride-sharing" or "ride-hailing" wars. That effort has made it the most valuable startup in the world, and its contributing investors include some of the world's most wealthy tech companies.

Chinese internet giant Baidu led a $1.2 billion investment round for Uber in 2015. At the time, Uber operated in 20 Chinese cities. Uber expanded to 60 over the course of the year. 

Google Ventures, the investment arm of Alphabet, poured $258 million into Uber back in 2013. Uber is its largest investment, Google Ventures CEO told Bloomberg in April. 

Microsoft also has invested in and sold its technology to Uber. The ride-hailing service acquired Microsoft's Bing mapping technology and around 100 engineers in June 2015.