China's biggest taxi app Didi is linking up with Brazil's 99, taking a stake in the business as part of a strategic co-operation deal.
The scale of its investment in 99, formerly 99 Taxis, is not disclosed, although it is large enough to warrant Didi getting a place on 99's board. Reports in the Brazilian press say that Didi's stake is part of a $100 million-plus funding round, which it is leading.
According to its Crunchbase entry, 99 has now received $125 million in funding since its launch in 2012.
Its app-based on-demand private car and taxi-hailing services are present in 550 cities in Brazil, where it is the market leader in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It has 140,000 registered drivers on its books and the app has been downloaded more than 10 million times.
Peter Fernandez, CEO for 99, noted that Didi's "financing, state-of-art technology and operations knowledge" will form the basis of the partnership and help 99 expand into other Latin American markets.
His counterpart at Didi, Cheng Wei, hinted at more Didi investment outside China.
"We look forward to working with more global partners in creating better mobility services," he said.
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NB: Image by Kagemni/BigStock