China truck-hailing firm raises $1.9b

GUIYANG - Manbang Group, the "Uber of China's truck industry," announced on Tuesday that it raised $1.9 billion in the first round of fundraising after the merger of two rivals last year.

China Reform Fund and SoftBank Vision Fund led the fundraising round, according to the company, which helps match truck drivers and people with goods to be transported.

Other investors include CapitalG, Farallon Capital, Baillie Gifford, GSR Ventures, Tencent and Sequoia Capital.

The fund will be used to improve customer experience and expand new business and markets, the company said in a statement. It will explore using new energy vehicles and automatic driving technology, expand overseas and continue to invest in logistics infrastructure.

Two rivals, Huochebang and ymm56.com, announced a strategic merger last November and the new company was named Manbang Group, also known as Full Truck Alliance Group.

More than 5 million of the 7 million trucks running on China's arterial roads and 1.2 million of the country's 1.5 million logistics firms are members of Manbang Group, the firm said.