Brazil Uber rival raises $100M from SoftBank

A LATIN American competitor to Uber – 99 – has raised $100 million from SoftBank of Japan to fuel growth, the Brazilian startup’s chief executive says. SoftBank will become a minority shareholder in the privately held 99, as the ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing of China did when it backed the startup in January. SoftBank is also a major investor in Didi Chuxing. The transaction, which was completed last week when Peter Fernandez, 99’s chief executive, travelled to Tokyo and met with the SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, puts another obstacle in Uber’s path to succeed in emerging markets.