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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

A new round of funding has increased Uber's valuation [theregister.co.uk] to around $51 billion. The New York Times cites anonymous sources in reporting that Microsoft contributed about $1 billion [nytimes.com], "a substantial amount of the financing." As you may remember, Uber recently acquired mapping assets and talent [soylentnews.org] 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 [theregister.co.uk] - 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 [reuters.com], and an Indian court lifted the ban [wsj.com] 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.

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