Uber is one of the most well known ride-sharing platforms in the world, and is surely by now a household name in many homes across Australia too.
Although, that has not come without controversy, plenty of media attention, overcoming adversity and of course, having a lot of support from their 77 investors who have invested over USD $8.8B in 13 capital raising rounds.
In the above infographic, we have put together the details of some of the key milestones of the Uber timeline, including when they raised funds from investors, and when they launched certain services and launched in certain countries.
It all started back in 2009 when Garrett Camp spent $800 hiring a private driver with friends and had been mulling over ways to decrease the cost of black car services ever since. He realized that sharing the cost with people could make it affordable, and his idea morphed into Uber.
He was joined by Travis Kalanick, who gives Garrett full credit for the idea of Uber, and he would play a vital role in the startup and development of the company over the coming years.
Their vision was huge, and they wanted to go global. But this would not be possible with just the two of them and their $200,000 in Seed Capital they collectively put in to start the business.
They would need to be strategic about who they brought onto their team, where they would raise funds to aid business growth, and create a strategic plan for what would become world domination.
Over the last 8 years, Uber has raised over USD $8.8B in from VC firms as well as Billions of dollars in Debt Financing. One of the largest supporters of Uber is, of course, Google Ventures.
GV has backed Uber in a massive way, and were the Lead Investor in the Series C round, contributing to the $363M raised along with 3 other investors. As well as being 1 of 9 investors in Series D which raised $1.4B collectively.
In addition to Google Ventures, some of the most well known investors in Uber have included Gary Vaynerchuk (Veyner Media and VeynerRSE), Goldman Sachs (top investment bank globally by fees for 2015), Microsoft (Bill Gates), Jeff Bezos (CEO at Amazon), Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter (American rapper, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur) and TATA Group (parent company of Jaguar, Land Rover, Taj Hotels and many others).
Business can be a lonely journey, but as you can see, it doesn’t have to be. Only 9 years ago, Travis and Garrett were just two guys with an idea and crazy enough to think they could change the world. Joining forces, both financially and mentally / physically, not only makes you stronger, but can help make your dreams become reality.
It is not publicly known what percentage of Uber that Garrett Camp still owns, or how much his business partners own. However, the company is today valued at over USD $66B and Garrett’s Net Worth is estimated at USD $6.3B so we are sure that whatever percentage he owns, it’s better than nothing.
Who do you have in your circle of friends, or who are you partnered with in your business circle that you could refer business to, network with, form a partnership with, help grow their business or recruit to invest in or help grow your business?
Leave your comments in the section below. We’d love to hear from you.
