Uber raises $1bn to take self-driving cars up a gear
UBER has raised $1bn (£769m) in funding for its autonomous vehicle division, giving the company substantial backing for continued development of its self-driving cars ahead of its listing next month.
The investment from Japanese technology giant Softbank, Toyota and car parts business Denso values Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group at $7.25bn.
Softbank will invest $333m into the division from its $100bn Vision Fund, Uber said on Thursday. Toyota has also pledged to invest a further $300m over the next three years to cover the cost of building autonomous cars.
The investment in Uber’s autonomous car division is likely to reassure investors ahead of Uber’s flotation in New York next month, as its self-driving car arm has proved one of its most expensive.
A significant part of the funding of the division is now covered by outside investors, easing concerns that the unit could be a drain on Uber’s balance sheet as it seeks to become profitable.
Uber is expected to float on the New York Stock Exchange in early May. The business disclosed in a filing earlier this month that it has lost $7.9bn since it was founded.
Uber made a small profit last year, although that was largely driven by the sale of businesses in Asia.
Uber’s self-driving car division will now become its own legal entity, but will remain under the control of Uber. Eric Meyhofer, the head of the division, will become the new business’ chief executive.
The death of a pedestrian who was hit by one of Uber’s self-driving cars in March 2018 caused the business to pause testing of its vehicles on public roads until December.
Uber fired the head of its self-driving car division in 2017 for failing to help with an investigation into the alleged theft of trade secrets from Google.
Anthony Levandowski “impeded Uber’s internal investigation and defence of the lawsuit”, Uber wrote.
Uber and Google settled their trade secret dispute in February 2018. Google’s self-driving car division Waymo was given a 0.34pc stake in Uber, then worth $245m, as part of the settlement.