Here’s why Booking.com has invested in ‘Uber of China’ Didi Chuxing

Looks like the leading Dutch travel company Booking Holding is making every effort to expand its presence in the Chinese market.

In a latest development, it has been announced that Bookings Holding Inc and related services have invested $500 million in the Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology in order to offer more personalized quality travel experiences across the world.

With this collaboration, Booking brands will integrate the on-demand car service through their apps, powered by DiDi, while on the other hand, the DiDi customers will have the option to book hotels through Booking.com or Agoda.

Why the $500 million investment?

This is not the first investment for Booking.com in the Chinese market. The company has already partnered with other Chinese companies before including China’s largest online travel service Ctrip and messaging service WeChat, both of which have a large Chinese customer base. With this move, Booking.com aims to strengthen their position by connecting to the huge consumer bases.

The company which holds Bookings.com also includes major brands in its portfolio like agoda.com, KAYAK, Priceline, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable.

For Didi Chuxing, this investment is a part of global expansion as it tries to topple its arch-rival Uber. DiDi recently launched its services in Mexico, Australia, and Taiwan. In addition to this, the company has also acquired local ride-sharing company 99 in Brazil.

Booking serves more than 220 countries at present!

In fact, Booking serves in more than 220 countries through various brands including agoda.com, KAYAK, Priceline, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable. Founded in 1996, this Amsterdam based website offers service in 41 languages and offers over 566,189 properties as well.

Raised $20.6B funding so far!

Founded by Bo Zhang and Cheng Wei in 2012, Didi Chuxing has so far raised around $20.6B in 18 funding rounds. The company also serves around 550 million customers across China, South America, Australia and Japan.

Stephen Zhu, Vice President for Strategy of Didi Chuxing, said, “Building on its leadership and expertise in the global online travel market, Booking is championing a digital revolution of travel experience. We look forward to seamlessly connecting every segment of the journey and improving everyone’s traveling experience through more collaborative innovation with the Booking brands on the product, technology, and market development.”

Todd Henrich, SVP and Head of Corporate Development for Booking Holdings, said, “DiDi has clear advantages in technology and scale in the shared mobility industry. We believe that together we can offer smarter transportation services to our brands’ customers, and help DiDi’s customers with seamless access to the products and services the brands in our company provide throughout the world.”

For more updates, stay tuned to Silicon Canals.