UPDATE:
An official announcement has been released today:
KuaiDi Dache, China’s Leading Mobile Taxi Booking App, Secures US$600 Million Investment from SoftBank Group, Alibaba Group and Tiger Global
The size of the funding round is $600 million, not the $700 million as reported. The confirmed investors also include Japan's Softbank Group, which was not named in the original report.
ORIGINAL:
Chinese taxi-hailing app Kuaidi Dache, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, is reported to have closed a Series D round of financing worth more than $700 million.
The report is according to China Travel News, who says Alibaba, Tiger Fund, and other funds were participants. The companies were not immediately available for comment.
The mammoth funding would be necessary to match the company's arch rival in China, Didi Dache, which raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round in December.
Only US-based Uber has raised more.
China's major cities are a hot market for these taxi apps because there is a cab shortage. Beijing, for instance, only has about 66,000 cabs to service 20 million people, according to the WSJ.
Kuaidi claims to be the largest car-service app in terms of market share and transaction volume, with 6 million daily taxi rides in 306 cities.
Alibaba provides a payment tool, online map and other support for the taxi-hailing service.
Its recently launched luxury limo service, Kuaidi ONE, has crossed into 32 cities in China.
SOURCE: Kuaididache fills war chest for impending battle [China Travel News]
MORE: Pivotal moments in 2014: rapid change in online travel in China