Uber announced in a blog post on Thursday that has secured a $1.2 billion round of funding. This is the culmination of weeks of rumors about Uber's plans and the supposed $40 billion valuation it was raising the money on.
The funding also includes 'additional capacity remaining for strategic investments," as Uber CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in the blog post. "This financing will allow Uber to make substantial investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region."
The reason that Uber needs this money, Kalanick explained, is because of how quickly its grown in the last year. He ran down the explosive growth from 60 to 250 cities, 21 to 50 countries and a six-fold growth for the company in just 12 months. But that's just the beginning according to Kalanick, who said that the next year will see a million more people working for the company along with other efforts to scale up.
He did acknowledge the issues Uber's been having lately with its image and how those haven't been good for the company (although it's been a boon for its rivals).
"This kind of growth has also come with significant growing pains,." Kalanick wrote. "The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change. Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps. We are collaborating across the company and seeking counsel from those who have gone through similar challenges to allow us to refine and change where needed."
Uber certainly has plenty of cash to turn things around, or do anything else really. It's now raised a total of $2.7 billion. That's enough to build a real ride-share empire. If Uber can recover the good will it used to have, there don't seem to be many limits to where it can go, certainly not if it keeps winning the regulatory game. Getting over the recent scandals will be a real test for it though, and not one it is guaranteed to pass.
"I’m inspired and energized every day by the work we do, the people in our community we serve and the impact we can have in bringing positive change to cities around the world," Kalanick wrote.
