Chinese ride-hailing operator Shouqi receives $195m Series B
Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, a Chinese ride-booking app backed by local transportation company Shouqi Group, has raised RMB1.3 billion ($195 million) in a Series B round across two tranches.
The company raised RMB600 million in its initial funding round last month from a subsidiary of Oceanwide Holdings and Beijing Mingqi Management. It has now received another RMB700 million as part of its Series B round from NIO Capital – a private equity unit established by Chinese electric car company NIO – Chinese search engine Baidu and Silk Road Huachuang. The company has also started its Series C round of fundraising.
Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur was launched two years ago by state-owned Shouqi Group. It completed a RMB228 million Series A round in 2015, led by a subsidiary of China Jianyin Investment.
The company owns over 60,000 cars throughout China, with businesses in 53 cities and districts. It claims to have more than 20 million registered users on its platform. Since the Chinese government announced a new policy on online car-hailing last year, Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur has obtained licenses to operate in 38 cities including Beijing, the company said.
Following the latest funding, Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur will work closely with NIO and Baidu to bring driverless technology into commercial operation, with a view to upgrading from a car-hailing platform to a smart automobile company.
It signed an agreement with Baidu last month to develop driverless vehicles. Baidu will provide Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur with its Baidu Map service, and in return receive assistance in developing high-precision maps for self-driving cars.
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