Uber, the car service that lets you hail a driver anywhere from its app, has confirmed it has raised $258 led by Google Ventures in the biggest round ever for the search engine investment arm. TPG Capital also participated.
With the Google investment, the company also gains access to Google’s technology, Uber explained in a blog post confirming the deal following earlier media reports.
“On one end we have Google, a technology powerhouse, with billions of users on an incredibly complementary product suite ranging from Google Maps to Android to self-driving vehicles,” wrote Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder and CEO. “We look to Google and Google Ventures for the strategic connectivity to their product initiatives alongside the expertise that comes with evangelizing new technology with governments and regulatory bodies around the world.”
What’s more, that may be only the iceberg tip of Uber’s cash infusion. AllThingsD unearthed a Certificate of Incorporation that indicated the company was closing on $361.2 million in a round that involved the sale of millions of stock shares and values the company at $3.5 billion.
Uber sold 1,913,782 shares of C-1 stock, estimated to each be worth about $142, for a total of $272,790,486.It also sold 775,092 shares of C-2 stock at about $114 per share for a total of $88,385,291. Benchmark, a previous investor in the company who also bought bought 105,234 shares of the C-1 stock, further invested another $15 million in this round. TPG bought 775,092 shares of Series C-2, according to filings.
As part of the investment, David Drummond , Google senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, and David Bonderman, founding partner of TPG, will be joining Uber’s board.
TPG was a strategic investor, being “one of the most prolific private equity firms in the world,” Kalanick explained in the blog.
“TPG owns and operates companies,” Kalanick writes. “The Uber deal is obviously very different, but their deep rolodex of operations executives and their regulatory know-how in highly regulated, ‘atoms’-based industries in the farthest corners of the globe is where TPG shines. David Bonderman’s vision and relationships will be invaluable to Uber as we become a global brand.”
Investment in the round proved competitive, with Google sealing the investment through a private meeting between CEO Larry Page and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, sources told AllThingsD.
Google’s impressive check means that $258 million of Google’s $300 million annual fund has already been cashed, so don’t expect the search engine to sign onto another deal like this anytime soon.
The deal gives Uber valuable fuel to maintain its position in an increasingly competitive market. Lyft, a company competitive to Uber whose drivers offer on demand rides, recently raised $60 million. Hailo, a 2012 Red Herring Europe winner, has raised a total of $50 million. Uber’s cash infusion should put it in another league. Uber’s last round in 2011 raised $37.5 million with a valuation of $330 million.
Uber is reportedly on track to earn $125 million in revenue this year.