Uber's top Chinese rival Xiaoju Kuaizhi raising $1.5 billion

BEIJING: Taxi applications backed by Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings are seeking to raise funds that value the company at $12 billion to $15 billion.

Xiaoju Kuaizhi is raising at least $1.5 billion to fend off Uber Technologies in China, the people said, asking not to be identified because they aren't authorised to speak about the matter.

The funding is coming from new and old investors, with the valuation doubling since the competing Didi and Kuaidi apps combined in February.

The two apps formed China's largest taxi and ride-sharing platform after merging to limit the rising costs of competing with each other and Uber. San Francisco based Uber has told investors it plans to invest $1 billion in China. Didi Kuaidi runs separate apps that customers use to access their service, while combining their technology and data.

The new valuation would make Didi Kuaidi one of the most valuable startups in China after smartphone maker Xiaomi, valued at $45 billion. Uber plans to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of $50 billion soon.