US car-booking app Uber announced last week that it's raised USD1.2 billion in funding to "make substantial investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region", according to CEO Travis Kalanick.
The San Francisco company is already six times bigger than it was before 2014, with presence in over 250 cities in 50 countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Bloomberg News reports that Uber, which declines to reveal who participated in the financing, is now valued at USD40 billion, doubling its $17 billion valuation in June.
But with massive growth come massive problems, and Uber is no stranger to this. Among others, Uber is still fighting the fire caused by senior executive Emil Michael's abrasive comments about journalists, particularly PandoDaily's Sarah Lacy. He was reported to have raised the intention to 'dig up dirt' on media professionals that shame the company and hinted heavily on breach of customer privacy within the company.
Kalanick seems to acknowledge this in his blog post announcement of the raise: "This kind of growth has also come with significant growing pains. The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change. Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps. We are collaborating across the company and seeking counsel from those who have gone through similar challenges to allow us to refine and change where needed."
US car-booking app Uber announced last week that it's raised USD1.2 billion in funding to "make substantial investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region", according to CEO Travis Kalanick.
The San Francisco company is already six times bigger than it was before 2014, with presence in over 250 cities in 50 countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Bloomberg News reports that Uber, which declines to reveal who participated in the financing, is now valued at USD40 billion, doubling its $17 billion valuation in June.
But with massive growth come massive problems, and Uber is no stranger to this. Among others, Uber is still fighting the fire caused by senior executive Emil Michael's abrasive comments about journalists, particularly PandoDaily's Sarah Lacy. He was reported to have raised the intention to 'dig up dirt' on media professionals that shame the company and hinted heavily on breach of customer privacy within the company.
Kalanick seems to acknowledge this in his blog post announcement of the raise: "This kind of growth has also come with significant growing pains. The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change. Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps. We are collaborating across the company and seeking counsel from those who have gone through similar challenges to allow us to refine and change where needed."