Since Google isn’t allowed in China, Chinese developers have taken the opportunity to launch their own search engine services, such as Baidu which can be largely considered China’s Google equivalent. That being said, it seems that Baidu is interested in more than search as a recent report has revealed Baidu’s plans to invest into Uber.
The report claims that Baidu is set to invest as much as a whopping $600 million into the company. While Baidu has yet to confirm this, the company did mention that they will be announcing a major new partnership next Wednesday, so there is a good chance we could learn more about this potential partnership between Baidu and Uber then.
So far Uber has done an impressive job at raising funds. The company’s market value at the moment is said to be worth around $40 billion. Companies such as Google Ventures has also invested in the company – $258 million to be exact back in 2013. Uber is already operating in China and thanks to its large population appears to be primed for Uber.
Of course the company has faced quite a lot of backlash and resistance from taxi companies and governments, not to mention several scandals involving its executives and drivers, but hopefully these are issues that will be able to be addressed in the near future.