Chinese language ride-hail agency Didi is on the hunt for contemporary funds for its autonomous automobile expertise unit that would worth it at $5 billion, in keeping with Bloomberg News.
Investor curiosity in self-driving automobiles is excessive in China on the backs of IPOs from WeRide and Pony AI, which have a market capitalization of $4.7 billion and $5.25 billion, respectively, as of Tuesday morning.
Didi Autonomous Driving, the unit Didi created in 2020, has raised a complete $1.55 billion so far, per PitchBook knowledge, together with a $298 million spherical in October 2024. Sources accustomed to the matter instructed Bloomberg that the unit goals to boost a number of hundred million {dollars} extra and is in talks with traders, together with a Beijing-based fund, to gauge curiosity.
The Chinese language AV firm is testing a fleet of roughly 200 autonomous automobiles throughout Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, nevertheless it has not but begun industrial robotaxi operations.
Didi might use the upcoming funds to proceed growing AV tech and pace up mass manufacturing of its electrical robotaxis inbuilt partnership with EV maker GAC Aion, the primary of that are set to be produced in 2025.
TechCrunch has reached out to Didi for extra data.