Last April 18, 2019, Uber Chief Executive Officer, Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the ride-sharing company won a whopping $1 billion investment from SoftBank and Toyota. Denso is also confirmed as a leading investor in the company.
The Verge notes that the proclamation was made with the use of social media, Twitter. The announcement includes a photo of Dara Khosrowshahi together with the executives and representatives from the investment pool. CNN states that the additional investment entails an increased value in the overall valuation of the Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) to a massive $7.25 billion.
Following this news, the ride-sharing business declared that it will be rolling out its self-driving cars. This particular vision will be made possible with the help of auto-parts maker Denso, vehicle maker Toyota, and the SoftBank Vision Fund reports Tech Crunch. Hailing from the auto industry, Toyota and Denso will be providing a collective $667 million into Uber, while SoftBank’s Vision Fund will be providing $333 million.
As per CNN, Toyota has already invested a sum of $500 million with the ride-sharing company in 2018. Meanwhile, SoftBank Vision Fund founded by Japanese billionaire, Masayoshi Son, is one of the start-up’s wealthiest and biggest stakeholder, holding 16.3 percent of shares.
Uber’s partnership with the automaker in 2018 dealt specifically with improving Toyota’s Sienna model fleet and road-testing Uber’s self-driving technology. The Verge states that the technology being developed by the Silicon Valley start-up is expected to roll out by 2021.
The press release care of Business Wire maintains that these companies supporting the Silicon Valley start-up are all united by their desire to further technological developments as well as the “commercialization of automated ridesharing services.” Through this powerful partnership, all of the companies involved hope to provide a safer and more effective riding experience.
