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A new round of funding has increased Uber's valuation to around $51 billion. The New York Times cites anonymous sources in reporting that Microsoft contributed about $1 billion, "a substantial amount of the financing." As you may remember, Uber recently acquired mapping assets and talent from Microsoft's Bing search engine division. Microsoft's participation in the latest funding round may indicate a "strategic alliance" between the company and Uber.
Uber needs all the billions it can get its hands on. It has followed June's announcement of $1 billion of investment to expand in China with a new $1 billion bet - this time to expand Uber India. Uber was recently banned in Delhi after a driver allegedly raped a female passenger. The company resumed operations in January anyway, and an Indian court lifted the ban on July 8.
Uber will face tough competition in India; existing firm Ola reportedly operates twice as many daily rides as Uber in over 100 cities, and is being valued at a measly $2.4 billion.
(Score: 2) by schad on Sunday August 02 2015, @05:55PM
If Uber survives long enough for an IPO, MS will make their money back and then some. The only real risk is that Uber goes tango uniform first. But MS has lots of good lawyers. I suspect they wouldn't lose much money even if that happens.
But MS has something like $96 billion in cash. $1 billion on Uber is, to them, like $1000 is to you. Not pocket change, certainly, but if everything goes against you and you're completely wiped out it's not really a big deal either.
Really, this is yet another sign that there's just far too much money chasing far too few worthwhile investments. In a sane world, nobody would be giving Uber a dime until they demonstrated that they could overcome the legal obstacles. But when you've got nearly $100 billion burning a hole in your pocket...