Uber plans major Asian expansion
Considering they get pushback from politicians and taxicab companies in what seems like every U.S. city they go, Uber, the on-demand car service app, has been quite successful. The company has grown seven times its size over the last year and, in addition to being in many major U.S. cities, it's also in Mexico City and a handful in Europe.
Next stop: Asia.
The company recently launched in Taipei and Seoul (and previously in Singapore) and, as Bloomberg reports, it's planning a much larger expansion in Asia:
Uber Technologies Inc., the mobile- app car service startup, is seeking “hundreds of millions” of dollars in a new financing round to fund its expansion to cities in China and around the world.
“There are discussions under way, we’re raising right now,” Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick said in an interview in Taipei yesterday after introducing Uber in the Asian city. He declined to identify potential investors or comment on the company’s valuation.
Of course, everywhere it goes Uber will face regulatory challenges, especially in China -- the world's second largest economy -- where doing business has plenty of challenges. But if it can succeed, the high-end service will be able to tap into markets that are extremely wealthy and only getting richer.
Read more: Bloomberg
Photo: Flickr/Anne Ruthmann
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