Taxify is looking forward to expanding its taxi-hailing business in Africa and Asia after making a deal with Didi Chuxing, a Chinese taxi organization that is partly owned by Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group. The partnership will be Ma’s first investment strike in the country that the Chinese billionaire visited a few weeks ago.
“Taxify will utilize this partnership to solidify our position in core markets in Europe and Africa. We believe Didi is the best partner to help us become the most popular and efficient transport option in Europe and Africa,” said Markus Villig, founder and chief executive of Taxify, in a press note.
Ma jetted into the country with a group of 38 Chinese billionaires. Through a series of interviews and press events, Jack Ma revealed that he was not going to make any investment commitments in the local scene, but is looking forward to providing a platform for Kenyan products to reach the global market.
Didi Chuxing has been competing with Uber in the Chinese market in the taxi business for some time. However, the American rival has since agreed to merge its China operations with Didi in a $35 billion deal that was signed a couple of days past.
It has been reported that Didi Chuxing will pump up to $1 billion in Uber that has a $68 billion valuation. At the same time, Uber China handlers will have a 20% stake at Didi. Worth noting is that Didi is going to take over Uber’s business in China. The two rival companies will not be merged; rather, Didi will run Uber as a separate company. By doing so, Uber stake at Didi will have a backing, in addition to having former CEO and Uber’s founder Travis Kalanick in Didi’s board.
In the past, Uber has had its fair share of troubles that range from legal issues in some its markets and internal squabbles that saw Kalanick resign. In China, for example, Uber has been losing to Didi (Didi performs 11 million rides in a day, Uber manages 1 million) in an investment that cost them $2 billion.
