According to the same study, Kuaidi Dache (快的打车; meaning "Fast Taxi"), backed by Alibaba Group, held most of the remaining market share.

[21] In May 2015, Didi Kuaidi spent aggressively to compete with other startups including Yidao Yongche (易到用车) and Uber (of which Baidu was an investor).

[21] Didi Kuaidi's existing stakeholders, including Alibaba, Tencent, Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd and Coatue Management, participated in the round, alongside new investors including, Capital International Private Equity Fund and Ping An Ventures, part of Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd.[23] The July 2015 fundraise is ranked as the world's largest single fundraising round by any private company, as well as the largest fundraising round for a Chinese mobile internet company at that time.

[28] DiDi closed a US$4.5 billion fundraising round in June 2016, with investors including Apple Inc.,[29][30][31] China Life Insurance Co., and a financial affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. As part of the round, DiDi secured a $2.5 billion syndicated loan arranged by China Merchants Bank Co.

This equity share fundraising round is one of the world's largest by any private company, surpassing the previous record set by DiDi.

[39][40] In March 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank Group Corporation approached DiDi with an offer to invest $6 billion in the company to fund the ride-hailing firm's expansion in self-driving car technologies, with a significant portion of the money to come from SoftBank's then-planned $100 billion Vision Fund.

[41] On 28 April 2017, DiDi announced it closed a new financing round of over US$5.5 billion to support its global expansion strategy and continued investments in AI-based technologies.

[42] In December 2017, Reuters reported that DiDi had raised $4 billion for a global push into foreign markets and investments into technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

Following these incidents, DiDi suspended its Hitch services in August 2018, and began to reform its platform with improved safety standards.

Media reported that in 2018, DiDi recorded losses of up to $1.61 billion owing to heavy spend on training and recruitment of qualified and skilled drivers.

[51][52] In 2018, the company launched its "Red Flag Steering Wheel" program in which verified Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members would be visible as drivers.

[56] Following the launch of the BYD D1, in April 2021, DiDi officially started its own car-building plan, code-named "Da Vinci".

[59] Plans started to change in late 2022 when the development of the Mona project was near complete, while camouflaged testing prototypes were seen driving around as early as March 2023,[60] the layoff has begun and the majority of the Da Vinci team was dismissed before Didi sold its EV development business along with the Mona project to XPeng in August 2023.

[61][62] The vehicle was previewed with a set of images in June 2024, then introduced in July 2024 and went on sale in August 2024 as the Mona M03 ahead of the 2024 Chengdu Auto Show.

[63] On 10 June 2021, DiDi filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange hoping to raise $10 billion, making it the second largest Chinese share offering in the US since Alibaba.

[64] On 16 June, it was reported that the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) launched an investigation into DiDi around pricing and competitive practices.

[67]: 94  The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) had sought to persuade DiDi to postpone its IPO filing in order to allow time for a more thorough cybersecurity review.

[68]: 147 On 4 July 2021, the CAC ordered app stores to remove DiDi, citing violations around the company's collection and usage of personal information.

[83][84][85] In August 2023, it was announced DiDi had agreed to sell its autonomous driving technology unit and EV development project to the Guangzhou-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturer, Xpeng, in exchange for $744 million worth of shares.

[86] On 19 May 2024, Jean Liu, co-founder of DiDi, stepped down from her roles as president and board director after a decade at the helm of the company.

Liu has announced she will continue as "permanent partner" and chief people officer, focusing on the company's long-term development, including talent and corporate social responsibility, while DiDi, which had faced significant regulatory scrutiny, will no longer have a president position.

Observers and critics argued that such a decision was inconsistent with the efforts of other multinational companies that scaled back or ceased operations in Russia during the war.

On 17 January 2018, DiDi launched its own bike-sharing platform, which integrates companies like Ofo, Bluegogo and DiDi-branded bikes and e-bikes.

The service offers English-language user interface and a real-time, in-app text message translation to facilitate rider-driver communication.

[105] In April 2018, DiDi and the Beijing Capital International Airport Public Security Bureau Traffic Detachment jointly built a smart transportation innovation laboratory.

In its official announcement, DiDi noted its intention to provide strategic guidance and support to 99 in the areas of technology, product development, operations and business planning.

[108] March 2017: opened a research and development center called DiDi Labs in Mountain View, California, U.S.[109] July 2017: co-led a new financing round of Grab.

DiDi also formed a strategic partnership with Careem, a transportation network company operating in the Middle East and North Africa.

DiDi will be the third major player to enter the West Australian ride share market alongside Uber and Ola.