Taxi app books US$350 in fundraising

Southeast Asian taxi-booking app GrabTaxi Holdings has raised more than US$350 million in the firm?s biggest ever fundraising to boost its business in the rapidly growing market, Agence France-Presse reported.
Singapore-headquartered GrabTaxi, which competes with the likes of Uber, said in a statement the funds came from investors that included China?s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation and Coatue Management, a US firm that invests in technology companies worldwide.
Didi Kuaidi, China?s biggest taxi app firm, is also among the big-name sources of the fresh funding.
The injection brings GrabTaxi?s total funding to US$700 million which the company said makes it ?one of the best funded start-ups in the history of Southeast Asia.?
GrabTaxi, which was launched in 2012, said it has a presence in 26 cities across six countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Ride-booking apps have become increasing popular as hailing traditional cabs becomes more difficult in many large, congested Southeast Asian cities.