【英语财经】优步将中国业务筹资目标翻倍至25亿美元 Uber seeks up to $2.5bn for China unit

Uber

is looking to raise as much as $2.5bn for its China unit, doubling the amount the company has already raised for its cash-burning operations in the world’s most populous country.

The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company is locked in fierce competition with Didi Kuaidi, its Chinese rival, which raised $3bn in a round that closed earlier this month.

As both companies use incentives to attract drivers and riders, the race for market share hinges on who can raise the most cash. The investors in Uber’s China unit include Baidu, the Chinese search company, while Didi’s backers include Tencent

and Alibaba.

Uber has been fundraising for its China unit since June at a pre-money valuation of $7bn, and earlier this month said that it had closed $1.2bn as part of that round. Expanding the round to raise $2.5bn underscores how much cash Uber is prepared to pour into the Chinese market, which has historically been unkind to foreign tech companies.

Uber said it would invest $1bn this year in China, which chief executive Travis Kalanickdescribed as “one of the largest untapped opportunities for Uber, potentially larger than the US”.

However Uber is the clear underdog in the Chinese market, particularly after China’s two largest ride-hailing companies, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, merged in February. Didi Kuaidi controls a majority of the private ride-hailing market, as well as having better relations with Chinese regulators that have paved the way for its participation in legal ride-hailing programmes.

Uber’s investors are divided on whether it can succeed in the Chinese market, and whether it needs to succeed there to justify the $50bn valuation of the Uber parent company.

While Uber goes after Didi in China, Didi is also going after Uber outside China, by investing directly in Uber rivals, including Lyft

in the US and GrabTaxi

in Southeast Asia. Last week Didi and Lyft announced an alliance that will allow their users to use each others’ services.

Uber’s fundraising efforts have been focused on funding its overseas growth, as it has expanded to 60 countries around the world.

However,e ven on its home turf in the US, Uber faces challenges including

a class-action lawsuit in California

that could up-end its business model, which relies on classifying drivers

as independent contractors rather

than employees.

The Uber parent company will still retain a controlling stake in the China unit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

On Tuesday Uber announced a new car-pooling service in Chengdu, south-west China, the first time that Uber has launched a new service outside the US.

Dubbed “UberCommute”, the service will enable long-haul commuters to pick up other passengers, for a fee, who are going in the same direction.

The product is part of Uber’s bid to persuade Chinese regulators that it can help reduce congestion and pollution

in the country’s crowded cities.

优步(Uber)希望为其中国分部筹得多达25亿美元的资金，使该公司为在世界人口最多国家烧钱运营而筹得的资金翻一番。

这家总部设在美国旧金山的打车公司正与中国对手滴滴快的(Didi Kuaidi)展开激烈竞争，后者在本月早些时候完成的一轮融资中筹得30亿美元。

由于两家公司都利用激励措施吸引司机与乘客，争夺市场份额的竞赛取决于谁能筹得最多的现金。优步中国(Uber China)的投资者包括中国搜索公司百度(Baidu)，而滴滴的支持者包括腾讯(Tencent)和阿里巴巴(Alibaba)。

优步自今年6月以来一直在为投资前估值达70亿美元的优步中国融资，并在本月早些时候表示，已在此轮融资中筹得12亿美元。将这一轮融资提升至25亿美元，突显优步准备将巨量现金投入历来对外国科技企业不太友善的中国市场。

优步表示，今年将在中国投资10亿美元，其首席执行官特拉维斯?卡兰尼克(Travis Kalanick)形容中国为“优步尚未开发的最大机遇之一，潜在比美国还要大”。

然而，优步在中国市场上明显处于下风，尤其是在今年2月中国最大的两家打车公司——滴滴打车与快的打车——合并后。滴滴快的控制着私人打车市场大部分份额，而且该公司与中国监管机构关系较好，为其参与合法打车计划铺平了道路。

对于优步能否在中国市场取得成功，以及是否需要在中国成功才能证明优步母公司500亿美元的估值合理，优步的投资者意见分歧。

优步在中国追赶滴滴的同时，后者也在中国以外的市场直接投资于优步的竞争对手，包括美国的Lyft以及东南亚的GrabTaxi，以此追赶优步。上周，滴滴与Lyft宣布结盟，将允许他们的用户使用彼此的服务。

优步的融资努力一直聚焦于资助海外增长，该公司已将业务扩展至全世界60个国家。

然而，即使在美国本土的地盘上，优步也面临各种挑战，包括加州的一起可能终结其商业模式的集体诉讼；优步的商业模式有赖于把司机界定为独立承包人，而非雇员。

据知情人士透露，优步母公司仍将保留对优步中国的控股股权。

本周二，优步在中国西南城市成都宣布了一项新的拼车服务，这是该公司首次在美国以外的地区推出新服务。

这项被称为UberCommute的服务将使长途通勤者能够有偿搭载去往同一方向的其他乘客。

该产品是优步的努力的一部分，目的是说服中国监管机构，它可以帮助在中国拥挤的城市减少交通拥堵和污染。

译者/陈隆祥