The Indian giant Tata invests nearly $ 100 million in Uber – Les Echos

The Indian industrial giant Tata is very interested in Uber, so much so that its automotive industry, Tata Motors, has decided to invest the sum of “significant” 75 to 100 million dollars (90 million euros) in the Californian company booking chauffeured vehicle. The investment will be made through Tata Opportunities Fund (TOF), which manages the investments of Indian conglomerate in private companies. This is the first time TOF invests in a company whose seat is not in India, Tata also making the largest Uber partner in the country.

VTC company is active in 18 cities in India, which, together with China, the center of the growth ambitions of startups. In India, where she conquered 35% market share and has 150,000 drivers Uber plans to invest one billion dollars (913 million euros) over the next nine months to counter the growth of its competitor Local Ola, present in 65 cities. Amit Jain, CEO of Uber India, highlighted last July that the company recorded a growth of 40% from one month to the other in India, its largest market after the United States.

One million daily trips

Despite the controversy it generates and prohibitions imposed on him (such as New Delhi where his license has been withdrawn for several months after the alleged rape of a passing by one of the drivers Uber), so the start-up aims to reach one million daily trips in the next six to nine months. Uber why should adopt a new headquarters, the largest after the US, and has chosen to install in Hyderabad, in the state of Telangana (in the south). Hyderabad real technological hub of the country, already home to multinational offices such as Amazon or Microsoft. About 2,000 drivers will be trained by the end of 2016.

The valuation of Uber, which is not publicly traded, would reach $ 51 billion after a last lap table in July, which would have earned him about one billion dollars, according to the “Wall Street Journal” indicating that investors were among the Microsoft IT group and the armed wing of the Indian media group Bennett Coleman & amp; Co. It exceeds the Chinese Xiaomi, star of smartphones, valued at $ 45 billion.