Uber Raises $3.5 billion investment Fund

Public Investment Fund – Saudi Arabia’s main investment fund that is set up to develop the country, invests $3.5 billion in Uber which is considered one of the largest investments into a startup. The new money -was a part of Uber’s recent financing round- values the company for $62.5 billion. It will also help Uber expand in the Middle East, where 80% of its users are women, the company says.

Uber has drawn capital from a wide variety of investors such as BlackRock- mutual fund giants-, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – Wealthy clients of firms- and other sovereign wealth funds have also invested such as Qatar.

Public Investment Fund is a sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1971 and is based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It invests and finances projects in Saudi Arabia through equity, loans or guarantees, and through allocations of public funds to specific projects.