Miami - According to a Wall Street Journal report last Friday, the US car service reservation company with driver, Uber has earned new financing close to $1 billion, resulting in the company’s value to surpass $50 billion.
Miami – According to a Wall Street Journal report last Friday, the US car service reservation company with driver, Uber has earned new financing close to $1 billion, resulting in the company’s value to surpass $50 billion.
In 2014, Uber’s worth had exceeded $40 billion, thanks to a fundraiser held by the company. Uber occupies a ‘star’ spot as part of Fortune’s “unicorn” companies. These are companies that have soared to a $1 billion valuation or higher, based on fundraising.
Fortune magazine’s cover of the February 2015 edition stated “we’re living in The Age of Unicorns” due to the increasing “unicorn” companies around the world.
The Wall Street Journal revealed some familiar names of Uber’s major investors at the fundraiser. These included Microsoft IT and the Indian media group Bennett Coleman & Co. However, a Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on its veracity.
Meanwhile, Uber has sent a request to AFP controllers to authorize them new financing “over two months ago” but declined to comment on any additional details.
Uber is well-known for its mobile application where the user solicits the pick-up service and the application locates an Uber vehicle with a driver who is near the client’s GPS location. Uber serves as an alternative to a traditional taxi service. The company collects a commission on the rate paid for transportation.
The Wall Street Journal notes that Uber has reached $5 billion in total financing obtained to date, without being publicly traded. This is comparable to the record Facebook set before going public on NASDAQ.
It is reported that a year before its initial public offering (IPO), Facebook had been also valued at $50 billion, in early 2011.
Uber has taken the world by storm with its aggressive international expansion plan. It has made the news several times in Morocco, with the launch of its services in Casablanca. Uber announced on Friday, their intention to invest $1 billion in India over the next nine months.
However, not everyone is happy with this rapid expansion. This has created a lot of tension with traditional taxis, especially in Europe. The discontent of some cities has pushed them to try to ban the service of the US Company.
