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IPFS News Link • Business/ Commerce

Uber Is Breaking All The Rules In Its $25 Billion Arms Race

• http://www.forbes.com

Every time you think Uber can't raise any more money, it raises billions more.

On Wednesday, Uber announced that it took a $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in one of the largest investments ever made in a private technology startup. The new money comes just a week after Uber took a strategic investment from Toyota, the world's largest car manufacturer, and several months after it raised $2 billion from investment funds like Tiger Global Management and T. Rowe Price and private wealth clients at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Since its founding in 2010, Uber has raised more than $12.5 billion in cash and convertible debt, according to Pitchbook. The startup, valued at over $6o billion, says it still has more than $11 billion on its balance sheet. The money Uber has solicited so far dwarfs all other private technology "unicorns"–but it's only part of a ride-sharing arms race that will soon total about $25 billion.

Lyft, Uber's U.S. rival, raised $1 billion in January, including half from General Motors. Gett took $300 million from Volkswagen. Didi Kuaidi, the leader in China, recently raised $1 billion from Apple and an additional $400 million from Alibaba, Ant Financial and Tencent. The company claims the round it is currently raising will eventually total more than Uber's latest $3.5 billion–helping Didi maintain its lead in the world's largest ride-sharing market.


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