More multi-digit deals in the global taxi app sector, the biggest of which is China’s Didi closing a $5.5 billion funding round.

Bloomberg says this is the biggest ever funding round for a tech business and values Didi at $40 billion. Reuters puts the valuation north of $50 billion.

Didi is China’s dominant taxi app business – although it now calls itself a “transportation platform” – and, like many Chinese tech-based businesses –  is active beyond China. Its statement confirming the $5.5 billion raise said that the cash would “support its global strategy and continued investments in AI-based technologies.”

This March it opened a research and development centre, Didi Labs, in Mountain View, California. And just under a year ago, Apple invested $1 billion in Didi.

Elsewhere, Gett has acquired Juno, a ride hailing business based in Tel Aviv but which operates in New York. While the tie-up has been confirmed via Gett’s official Twitter feed, few concrete details have emerged about the price paid – TechCrunch claims that it was $200 million.

Around the same time that Apple was investing in Didi, Gett also picked up a big name backer, with Volkswagen Group injecting $300 million into the business.

Related reading from Tnooz:
Ola adds an in-house tours and activities option for customers (April17)
Hailo disappears into the Waterloo sunset as Mytaxi takes over (March17)
Didi move spotlights potential activities play (Dec16)