Toyota, SoftBank Vision Fund pump another US$1b into Uber
Japanese car giant Toyota and investment fund SoftBank Vision Fund yesterday unveiled an investment of US$1 billion (RM4.13 billion) in Uber Technologies Inc to drive forward the development of driverless ridesharing services.
The latest cash injection, expected to close in the third quarter this year, came amid fevered anticipation of Uber’s public share offering, which is expected to be the largest in the tech sector for years.
Toyota has already invested US$500 million in Uber as the firm races Google-owned Waymo and a host of other companies, including major carmakers, to develop self-driving vehicles.
The latest investment, which involves parts maker Denso, will go to Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group in a bid to “accelerate the development and commercialisation of automated ridesharing”, said the firms.
Toyota and Denso are stumping up US$667 million and SoftBank Vision Fund, the investment arm of Japanese tycoon Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank, will pour US$333 million into the venture. It is already the top shareholder, holding 16 per cent.
The firm said it would also contribute “an additional US$300 million over the next three years to help cover the costs related to these activities”.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said driverless cars would “transform transportation as we know it, making our streets safer and our cities more liveable”.
His firm is aiming to go beyond car rides to become the “Amazon of transportation” in a future where people share, instead of own, vehicles.
If all goes to plan, commuters could ride an e-scooter to a transit station, take a train, then grab an e-bike, share a ride or take an e-scooter at the arriving station to complete a journey — all using an Uber app on a smartphone.
Uber is also seeing growing success with an “Eats” service that lets drivers make money delivering meals ordered from restaurants.