Korea Investment Partners Co., a venture capital under Korea Investment Holdings, is expected to reap a handsome profit from its investment in Didi Chuxing, the China-based ride-sharing company whose value has surged on a series of successful fundraising rounds since its bet.

According to investment bank industry sources on Sunday, Didi Chuxing’s value has jumped 33 percent to $50 billion since April last year when Korea Investment Partners invested a total of $20 million in the Chinese car-sharing company to buy its shares at $38 apiece. At that time, Didi Chuxing’s value was estimated at $37.5 billion and the Korean venture capital bet on the Chinese firm’s unrivaled leadership in the Chinese ride-hailing service market following its acquisition of Uber’s Chinese operation last year.

Since the Korean investor acquired the Chinese firm’s shares, a number of leading global investors have hurried to own its stakes. Its latest fundraising closed last month drew in a fresh $55 billion, or nearly $51 per share, from United States-based private equity fund Silver Lake Kraftwerk, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., and Chinese financial institutions China Merchants Bank Co. and Bank of Communications Co.

Didi Chuxing has become a star player in the Asian startup community, beating Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. valued at $46 billion. Furthermore, its valuation has already topped U.S-based home-sharing startup Airbnb’s $30 billion and has narrowed the gap with Uber’s $70 billion.

The Chinese ride-hailing service reportedly plans to use the new funds to expand its presence in the global market and invest in the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based services with an aim to enter the self-driving car market. In March, it established a research and development center for autonomous car technology in Silicon Valley, the U.S.

Encouraged by its successful investment in Didi Chuxing that would help boost its presence in the global financial market, Korea Investment Partners plans to increase its investment in overseas companies, said Kim Jong-pil, executive vice president of Korea Investment Partners. In 2015, the venture capital invested 4.8 billion won ($4.2 million) in U.S-based Auris Surgical Robotics whose valuation doubled to 1.1 trillion won from 500 billion won two years ago. It recently made an 11.2 billion won investment in another U.S. financial technology startup SoFi.

By Kang Doo-soon and Song Gwang-sup

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