Didi Kuaidi is raising another funding round, will be valued at more than $20b (UPDATED)

UPDATE 9/8: Nothing to see here, folks. A Didi representative got in touch with Tech in Asia to clarify that despite what Stephen Zhu said, this isn’t really a new round – it’s the same US$1 billion round that was first reported several months ago. Previously, we had been under the impression that this was a new round, separate from the already-reported US$1 billion round. An edited version of the original story follows:

Just how much money does one startup need? At a recent investor summit, Didi Kuaidi vice-chair Stephen Zhu said that the company is on the verge of completing yet another funding round. This round is expected to raise the company’s valuation above US$20 billion.

Zhu didn’t share any details about the sum being raised (rumor has it it’s over US$1 billion) or what investors might be participating, but he did say that the current round puts Didi’s valuation significantly above what we’ve seen previously.

Does Didi really need this much more?

Another round so soon after its US$3 billion round does, of course, raise the question of why the company needs so much investor capital. It’s been widely reported that Didi’s battle with Uber is a cash-burning competition, with both sides offering subsidies and discounts at a loss in order to entice passengers. At the investor event, Zhu said Didi is closer than it has ever been to profit, with 300 out of its 400 coverage cities already in the black. But neither Didi nor Uber China shares its books with the public, so we can only speculate as to how much either firm is bleeding at this point.

(Update 9 hours after publishing: Uber’s Zhen Liu has fired back at Didi’s purported fundraising by claiming that its China rival is throwing money at unprofitable areas. “While 90 percent of our competitor’s business is concentrated on 30 cities in China where it has yet to turn a profit, Uber’s top 30 cities globally are already returning over US$1 billion in profits annually. We know how to build a winning business, and as our peers spend heavily to buy up unprofitable market share in immature areas, we have invested smartly to shake up the competitive landscape in the highest-potential markets.” An Uber representative didn’t specify how many of those top 30 cities are in China.)

It will be interesting to see which of Didi’s existing investors, if any, are participating in this new round. The investors in its most recent round went undisclosed, but earlier rounds have included investment from a veritable who’s who of Asian investors including Alibaba, Tencent, Temasek, Softbank, Pingan Ventures, and Yuri Milner.