Uber receives almost $2 billion funding from Chinese investors

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By Larry Banks

On Wednesday Uber said it has received nearly $2 billion funding from Chinese investors, in part due to a recent fundraising round that values the firm’s Chinese arm at $7 billion.

Uber’s global entity received the rest of the money, although it did not specify the amount received by each unit. The details were reported in Chinese media on Wednesday and subsequently confirmed by Uber.

Previous unreported Chinese investors include China Minsheng Banking Corp, real estate developer China Vanke Co Ltd and China Broadband Capital. Other investors also include HNA Group Co Ltd China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co Ltd, China Life Insurance Co Ltd, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co ltd and CITIC Securities Co Ltd.

The Chinese unit was valued at around $7 billion before receiving investments in its Series B funding round, company CEO Travis Kalanick told reporters on Monday in Beijing.

Uber appears to be enjoying a good year so far, with lots of new deals, including transport authorities, and leaving competitor Lyft trailing behind. The service has also been integrated into Facebook’s Messenger app. Future plans also are said to include self-driving cars, and while future fundraising hasn’t been announced yet, there are rumours that Uber will go public during 2016.

SOURCE: Reuters.

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