China ride hailing platform Ruqi Mobility secures $117m
Ruqi Mobility, a ride-hailing platform incubated by Chinese state-backed automaker GAC Group, has raised CNY 842m (USD 117m) in a Series B funding round led by Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.
The company was reportedly selecting underwriters for a Hong Kong IPO last year, but that has yet to materialise. Also last year, it raised a CNY 1bn Series A led by GAC Group with participation from autonomous driving technology developers Pony.ai and WeRide Technology.
The ride-hailing service launched in 2019. It operates primarily in the Greater Bay Area, including cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Zhuhai. A key differentiator is the emphasis on new-energy vehicles, which carry the “on time” logo. Ruqi claims to rank first in the industry based on regulatory compliance.
The company is developing an open platform for autonomous vehicles known as robotaxis. It cooperated with Pony.ai on a pilot project comprising manned vehicles and robotaxis in Nansha last year. The project expanded into Shenzhen's Qianhai district in April.
MergerMarket, AVCJ’s sister publication, reported in February that another Chinese ride-hailing platform, T3 Go, was pursuing a Hong Kong IPO. T3 is the second largest industry player after the now-delisted Didi Chuxing. It raised a CNY 7.7bn Series A in 2021. Rival app Caocao secured a CNY 3.8bn Series B the same year.
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