Ride-hailing company Uber has closed $1.6 billion in convertible debt from clients of Goldman Sach’s private wealth arm. The New York Times reports that the startup will raise another $600 million in stock from hedge funds and overseas investors. Uber raised $1.2 billion in its last round, valuing the company at over $41 billion.
Music app Shazam is now valued at more than $1 billion after a $30 million investment round. Shazam’s music recognition technology allows users to identify songs by allowing the app to ‘listen’ to what is playing. “We’re excited to continue to focus on user growth and engagement, building on our strength in music and innovating to increase the universe of what is Shazamable in order to realise the enormous potential of Shazam,” said Rich Riley, CEO, Shazam. “Our move into multiple new environments in 2014 has allowed our users to connect to more aspects of their world while enabling our partners and advertisers to reach our massive and engaged user base like never before.”
Big data solutions company Antuit has raised $56 million in funding led by Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital. The Singapore-based company will use the funding for global expansion and acquisitions. Arijit Sengupta, Antuit’s CEO said, “The rapidly growing $10 billion plus Big Data services market is ripe to be organized and consolidated under a market leader. Goldman Sachs, an experienced investor in technology and services, brings us not only capital, but also deep expertise around how to grow into such a company and a global network of corporate relationships which will be instrumental to Antuit’s success.”
Giftcard marketplace Raise has secured $56 million in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, the Pritzker Organization and Listen Ventures. The company, which reports selling more than 1 million gift cards in 2014, has now raised $81 million to date. “Raise is one of the fastest-growing companies we’ve ever seen,” said Tony Florence, general partner at New Enterprise Associates. “There is clearly tremendous market opportunity in making it easier to buy, sell and redeem gift cards, and Raise’s marketplace streamlines the process, integrates advanced mobile payment technologies, and delivers an unbeatable value proposition to merchants and consumers. With growth in the double digits every month, we’re very excited to partner with Raise as they build on that rapid growth and begin to execute on a massive scale.”