Online taxi aggregator Uber will invest in India a “substantial portion” of the USD 3.5-billion funding raised from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, as the US-based firm is looking to overtake local rival Ola.
Uber has raised USD 3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, valuing the company at USD 62.5 billion and making it one of the most highly valued venture capital-backed companies globally.
“A substantial portion will be for India. We have grown exponentially over the last two years and remain bullish on the Indian market where we continue to register remarkable growth,” Uber India President Amit Jain told
It is a global fund and will be used for strategic investments in global priority markets like India, he added.
“With this investment, we have more than USD 11 billion in our war chest to invest in our product and markets to grow and compete,” Jain said.
In July last year, Uber had announced an investment of USD 1 billion in India to expand its services in India. It has also set up a response and support centre in Hyderabad with an investment of USD 50 million.
Jain, however, did not comment if the company has exhausted the earmarked sum.
Uber, which competes with Softbank-backed Ola in India, said the company witnessed a 26 times growth in 2015 over the previous year.
“India is our third largest market, after the US and China, in terms of number of trips. Our focus is on growing the business here,” Jain said.
Uber is present in over 460 cities, globally. In China also, Uber is facing competition from Alibaba-backed Didi Kuaidi.
Interestingly, Didi is also a strategic investor in Ola.