Uber Technologies at top of hot internet startup club with $17-bn valuation

Transport services provider Uber Technologies Inc is now in its own hot-start up league with a $17-billion valuation.

The San Francisco-based transportation service, which allows people to order private town cars and other vehicles from their smartphone, has raised $1.2 billion in a new financing led by Fidelity Investments.

With the funding, the company takes the lead among internet startups, at a pre-money valuation of around $17 billion, up from $3.5 billion in a financing last year.

Wellington Management, Summit Partners, BlackRock Inc, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and existing investors such as Google Ventures and Menlo Ventures are other investors in the new round.

According to Uber chief executive officer Travis Kalanick, he was keeping the round open to strategic partners that might pitch in an additional $200 million, though he declined to name possible partners, Newsday reported.

This was about capitalising for the opportunities that the company saw ahead said Kalanick. He added, if one could make it economical for people to get out of their cars or sell their cars, and turn transportation into a service, it was a pretty big deal.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal quoted Kalanick, as saying in an interview that Uber was doubling its business revenue every six monthsand had ust passed the 1,000 employee mark.

Uber is now present in 127 cities across 37 countries around the globe.