The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Uber closed a $1 billion financing round at a valuation of about $51 billion, and that Microsoft participated in the deal.
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Investors in the latest round include Microsoft Corp and the Indian media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co’s Times Internet, the report said. Uber confirmed it filed over two months ago with Delaware’s Secretary of State the new funding but declined to comment on further speculation on the identity of its new investors, according to USA Today.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Uber carries the loftiest start-up valuation in an already frothy tech economy, beating out room rental company Airbnb, which is valued at $25 billion, and Snapchat at roughly $15 billion.
Previously, Facebook had been the only venture-backed private company to sport a $50 billion valuation.
Microsoft is known for investing in companies it wants to do business.
Uber’s endless appetite for cash is driven by its equally ambitious plans for expansion. China’s Xiaomi, an electronics company and one of the world’s largest smartphone distributors, is valued at $46 billion.
It’s odd that Microsoft would make such a big late-stage investment in a company like Uber, which falls well outside of its recent focus on user productivity.
Last week a proposed cap on Uber and other for-hire vehicles in New York City was put on ice after the start-up agreed to “not flood the streets” until questions about the impact of its growth on traffic can be determined. The display always seems to show several Uber cars hovering around the area, indicating that a ride is just around the corner, but that isn’t always the case.
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Separately, Uber said this week that it would invest $1 billion in India in the next nine months. At the time, Fortune said Uber might have trouble living up to the hype. The company has faced regulatory roadblocks in the country since December, when the app was banned after a woman said she was raped by an Uber driver.
