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: 

 Follow

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
 
•  2,4102,410 likes

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.

Apple invests $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company

Is an iCar showing up on our crystal balls?

It sure looks like it after it was announced on Thursday that Apple has invested $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the strategic move was made to help the company better understand the Chinese market, the second largest after the U.S.

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," Cook told Reuters.

The investment comes at a crucial time for Apple seeing it has had a few upsets in the Chinese market in the past few months. On top of flagging sales, Apple was also blocked from selling iBooks and movies in the country.

Didi Chuxing, formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, is the country's most popular ride-sharing service and completes more than 11 million rides a day. Didi also holds several international partnerships with other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft.

In a statement released following the announcement, Cook said that "Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China" and that Apple was "extremely impressed by the business they've built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."

Although no further information was provided on what this spells for both companies, it's worth noting that Apple has in the past year employed many automotive experts. Cook also mentioned that he sees opportunities for both companies to collaborate in the future. 

This is the single largest investment that Didi has received. Previous investors include Alibaba and Tencent.

Apple invests $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company

Is an iCar showing up on our crystal balls?

It sure looks like it after it was announced on Thursday that Apple has invested $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the strategic move was made to help the company better understand the Chinese market, the second largest after the U.S.

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," Cook told Reuters.

The investment comes at a crucial time for Apple seeing it has had a few upsets in the Chinese market in the past few months. On top of flagging sales, Apple was also blocked from selling iBooks and movies in the country.

Didi Chuxing, formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, is the country's most popular ride-sharing service and completes more than 11 million rides a day. Didi also holds several international partnerships with other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft.

In a statement released following the announcement, Cook said that "Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China" and that Apple was "extremely impressed by the business they've built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."

Although no further information was provided on what this spells for both companies, it's worth noting that Apple has in the past year employed many automotive experts. Cook also mentioned that he sees opportunities for both companies to collaborate in the future. 

This is the single largest investment that Didi has received. Previous investors include Alibaba and Tencent.

CARIBBEAN, TRAVEL, WORLD

SINGAPORE — Ride-hailing apps Uber and Grab are locked in their latest price war, and early data shows it's working to get more "butts in seats", Uber said on Monday.

Uber's Singapore general manager, Warren Tseng, said in a press briefing that since the company cut its fares by 15% last week, it's noticed overall rides in Singapore have increased by 20%, and there was a 10% increase in new riders.

Tseng said the company decided to lower fares because its data supported the hypothesis that the move would convert new riders over from other modes of transport like traditional taxis. The more riders try new ride-hailing apps, the more they're likely to continually opt for it eventually if they form the habit.

A week ago, Uber's main competitor in Singapore, Grab, also slashed its prices in the app. It lowered its starting fare from S$3.50 ($2.59) to S$3 ($2.22), and lowered the mileage charge from 90 cents ($0.67) to 80 cents ($0.59) per kilometre.

Grab's fare structure is different from Uber's. It displays a pre-calculated charge at the start of the ride, and doesn't adjust upward if unexpected jams occur. The fare is calculated based on distance and current demand and supply.

Grab's Singapore head, Lim Kell Jay, also told Mashable the lowered fares are expected to supply more riders to Grab's network of private drivers.

Both companies have said that the extra volume of riders is expected to help counter the lowered revenue per passenger, so drivers' earnings stay up. It's also clear that they're trying to subsidise some of the drivers' costs, by offering petrol discounts from tie-ups with fuel companies, among other items such as car insurance.

The cash option is helping too

Surprisingly, the new cash payment option that Uber opened two weeks ago is working, said Tseng.

He said that despite Singapore's 90% credit card penetration rate, cash is still favoured in an estimated 30% of day-to-day transactions. The company said two weeks ago that it hopes cash will open the service to riders like students, who might not have credit cards.

Since then, cash payments have been made in 5% of Uber's rides in Singapore, and this figure is expected to go up, he said. A third of first-time riders are also using cash, showing a possible reluctance to put in credit card data into the app at the beginning.

Tseng noted that most of the cash sign-ups for first trips are also coming out of residential areas located further away from the city, such as the further eastern districts of Simei and Tampines, and up north in Woodlands and Yishun.

A lot of Uber riders are part of demographic slices like foreign expats who are already accustomed to ride-hailing apps. Uber's lowered fares and cash strategy is designed to help the company reach a broader base of riders outside the city centre.

Grab has offered cash payment as an option from its launch.

UPDATE: April 26, 2016, 2:54 p.m. SGT An earlier version of this story stated that Uber saw a 20% rise in new sign-ups and 10% overall increase. The figures have been amended.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.