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4 December 2014
Last updated at 19:01
Taxi booking firm Uber has completed the latest stage of a fundraising, valuing the fast growing
business at $40bn (25.5bn).
The San Francisco company has raised another $1.2bn from investors in a deal that confirms its
status as one of most highly valued new technology start-ups.
In June, a sale of shares to investors valued Uber at $17bn.
In a blog post on Thursday, Uber's co-founder Travis Kalanick said the new money would help
expansion in Asia.
The company, which a year ago operated in 60 cities in 21 countries, is now in 250 cities in 50
countries.
At its current valuation Uber, which was only founded in 2009, is worth about three times as much
as either ITV or Marks and Spencer, says BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.
Last month, the company was forced to issue an apology after being accused of planning smear
tactics against journalists and of tracking its users without their permission.
In his blog, Mr Kalanick said: "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," he added.