SoftBank, known for investing in ridesharing apps that aren’t Uber, has added another startup to its list. This time it’s a $100 million bet on 99, the largest ridesharing company in Brazil.
99 says this is an extension of a round for upwards of $100 million that it raised in January from Didi Chuxing, China’s biggest ridesharing app (and itself a SoftBank investment), and Riverwood. Softbank’s investment doubles its total to more than $200 million and also brings 99 deeper into an informal international alliance of ridesharing apps backed by SoftBank. In addition to Didi Chuxing, these include all of Uber’s major regional rivals: Lyft, India’s Ola, and Southeast Asia’s Grab.
For both SoftBank and Didi Chuxing, investing in 99 is a major step in deepening…