US-based ride sharing app producer Uber has received a $3.5bn investment from Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, TechCrunch reported today.
The cash injection is part of Uber’s latest round, though a target size has not been revealed. It marks the largest single investment in the company to date and boosts the total funding of Uber and its subsidiaries to more than $11.5bn.
Uber’s valuation remained at $62.5bn for the latest investment.
Founded in 2009, Uber operates a smartphone app that allows users to hail a car driven by freelance drivers. The company has rapidly expanded across the world, including into the Middle East where it is working with several companies to hire and educate drivers.
Uber claims there are currently more than 395,000 drivers in the region.
Saudi Arabia made the investment as part of its Vision 2030 strategy, the country’s goal of becoming less dependent on income from oil over the next decade and a half.
Uber also helps the country work around its law that prevents women from driving cars, saying that 80% of riders in Saudi Arabia are female.
PIF’s commitment comes only a week after Toyota signed a partnership agreement with Uber and provided an undisclosed sum. It is not clear whether Toyota’s investment forms part of the same round.
Uber’s current backers include corporates such as insurance providers Ping An and China Life Insurance, internet company Baidu, conglomerate Alphabet, media company Times Group and software developer Microsoft.
A host of other firms have also invested in the company, such as Citic Bank, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital, TPG, Fidelity Investments, Benchmark Capital, Wellington Management, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Menlo Ventures, Data Collective, CrunchFund, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Lowercase Capital, First Round Capital, New Enterprise Associates and Innovation Endeavors.
Yasir Al Ruymayyan, secretary general of PIF’s board, said: “This ambitious and far-reaching plan presents a number of goals, including unlocking strategic sectors such as tourism and entertainment, boosting employment opportunities and women’s participation in the workforce, and encouraging entrepreneurship.”