Taxi giant Uber has announced that the funds raised in the last few investment rounds will be mainly used for Asian countries India and China. Earlier this year, Uber had successfully raised $600 million and $1 billion in separate fund raising rounds. The total Series E round came to a stop at $2.8 billion.
Currently, Uber is present in more than 300 cities in 57 countries and aims at expanding in India. Certainly, it will face tough competition with Ola who recently acquired TaxiForSure for $400 million and is the largest radio taxi provider in the country.
“In the last couple of months, Uber has raised money with India and China in focus. These are very big markets and priority for us and we feel they will help us drive growth for the firm,” said Allen Penn, Uber’s Head of Asia Operations.
In recent years, India’s taxi market has increased aggressively, especially in the metros. Reports say that the entire taxi market in India is predicted to reach Rs. 30,000 crore.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had said last December that the recent funding of $1.2 billion will help the company make substantial investments and focus on the Asia pacific region. Uber is currently worth around $40 billion and may soon become the world’s most valuable start-up.
In India, Uber had faced a massive amount of flak when one of the drivers raped a passenger and got the company under a harsh negative light. Following the incident, Uber has come up with safety features like SOS button, Send Status and SOS Alert Solution to make sure such incidents do not take place. Recently, the company also launched a cash payment option in Hyderabad.
