Asia Tech Wire (Apr 30) -- Caocao, a ride-hailing platform backed by Chinese automaker Geely, filed for an IPO with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.

Caocao Inc., commonly known as Caocao Chuxing, hired Huatai International, ABC International and GF Securities (Hong Kong) as joint sponsors for the IPO.

Founded in May 2015, Caocao grew out of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH).

In August 2021, the ride-hailing platform completed a 1.8 billion yuan Series B financing, with a pre-money valuation of 17 billion yuan.

Geely owns a number of listed companies, including Geely Automobile (0175.HK), Volvo Car (VOLCAR B:STO), Polestar (PSNY:NASDAQ), Lotus Technology (LOT:NASDAQ GS), etc., and its premium electric car brand Zeekr is preparing for a U.S. IPO.

According to Frost & Sullivan, Caocao has been among China's top three online ride-hailing platforms in terms of gross transaction value (GTV) in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and is growing rapidly.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, Caocao deployed 31,000 customized vehicles in 24 cities across China, making it the largest customized vehicle fleet in China, the IPO filing showed.