SoCar announced on Wednesday that the company secured a total of 51 billion won ($43.1 million) since December from several investors. SoCar said that the capital injection would be good for the company even after Tada failed to raise investment due to legal setbacks and local regulations late last year.
Tada is a van-hailing platform operated by Value Creators & Company (VCNC) under SoCar.
South Korea’s largest car-sharing service provider in a statement said that the 51 billion won worth investments came from LB Private Equity, a Korean private equity fund, and other venture capitals (VC) since December of 2019.
The last time the company raised funds was in January of last year after it attracted 50 billion won ($42.2 million) capital injection from VCs such as Altos Ventures, an investment company based in Silicon Valley.
SoCar is anticipated to use the new investment in research and development (R&D), and upgrades in its service quality.
Market watchers said that the latest capital injection into SoCar shows that the industry still has expectations for the advancement of the Korean mobility market amid continuing disputes between various transportation services.
Although Tada failed to attract 592 billion won ($500 million) investment from SoftBank Vision Fund in December, SoCar still achieved to secure new investments despite the nation’s early stage in the ride-hailing service platform industry.
The investment round for Tada was canceled due to the rapid unfolding of incidents that have threatened the future of the country’s only surviving ride-hailing company.
Uber, an American multinational ride-hailing company, along with other ride-hailing service providers, failed to succeed in Korea due to strict regulations, and strong opposition from the local taxi industry.
Local lawmakers proposed a revision in Korea’s transportation law to limit van-hailing passenger-carrying service solely for tour purposes after an aggressive resistance from taxi service operators.
