Is LinkedIn the new Tinder? After several over-excited advances, I’m starting to wonder how anyone has time to do any work May 22, 2017 One evening two years ago, LinkedIn sent me this message: “Klaus viewed your profile 11 times today”. As Klaus’s LinkedIn viewing patterns merited a restraining order, I thought of calling the police. Then I opened his profile. Klaus, which is not his name, was head of equity capital markets at one of the largest investment [...]
Uber Technologies has raised $1.15bn from a high-yield loan July 8, 2016 Uber Technologies has raised over a billion dollars to add to its arsenal in its bid to extend its operations across the world. The taxi-hailing app has finalised a $1.15bn (£889m) high-yield loan. The unleveraged loan, which is Uber's first, takes the total amount raised in debt and equity to more than $15bn and helps its [...]
Here’s how Uber wants to solve commuting May 24, 2016 Uber has already revolutionised our late night trips after a night out, but now Uber wants to do the same for your daily commute to work. The boss of the billion dollar startup Travis Kalanick has spoken about one of the bigger plans for the company and the future of commuting – carpooling. "Is there a way that someone could pick [...]
Uber slapped with fine by French courts over illegal service June 9, 2016 Uber has been slapped with a fine by French authorities over its UberPop service, which the country's government deems illegal. The court in Paris fined the billion dollar startup €800,000 (£626,000), only half of which is payable, but avoided a payment of as much as €1.5m Read more: Porsche on-demand? VW boss reveals Gett plans Two Uber France [...]
Matthew Taylor Modern Employment Practices review into the gig economy: Why is a Tory government indulging misguided calls for self-employment “rights”? March 22, 2017 Matthew Taylor was doing the rounds at the weekend, talking about the Review of Modern Employment Practices which he is conducting on behalf of the government – more evidence that Mrs May wants to rebrand the Conservatives as a sort of Blue Labour. Taylor, a former parliamentary wannabe who later worked for Tony Blair and [...]
Britons believe driverless future is on the way to our cities June 2, 2017 Britain’s transport authorities may be struggling with regulation of online taxi firms like Uber, but Britons themselves are ready to go a step further and embrace a driverless future, a new survey shows. Two-thirds of Britons believe that dedicated lanes on roads for driverless technology will be introduced as widespread self-driving cars become a reality, [...]
Ford gears up for a major AI investment to boost its self-driving car offerings February 11, 2017 Ford is spending big to up its game in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. The US carmaker said it will invest $1bn (£800m) over the next five years in Argo AI, an AI software and robotics technology startup, to support its autonomous vehicle development. Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, which was founded by former Google and Uber leaders, will work to develop a [...]
Toyota invests in Uber to launch ride-sharing partnership May 24, 2016 Car giant Toyota is set to invest in taxi app Uber to launch a ride-sharing venture. The Japanese carmaker will offer new buyers leasing options wherein they can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers. Terms of the partnership haven’t been revealed. However, Toyota said that [...]
Volkswagen invests $300m in Uber rival Gett May 24, 2016 Volkswagen has invested $300m (£205m) in taxi on-demand service Gett, a rival to Uber, handing it a stake in some of Britain's black cab fleet and also indicating the future of the German car brand. Gett bought up Radio Taxis, adding more than 1,000 traditional cabbies to its fleet of 10,000 drivers in the UK earlier this year and [...]
Saudi wealth fund invests $3.5bn in Uber June 1, 2016 Controversial taxi app Uber has raised $3.5bn (£2.43bn) from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund valuing the company at $62.5bn. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund will now own approximately 5 per cent of Uber and the fund's managing director Yasir al-Rumayyan will join the company's board. Other board members include Benchmark Capital general partner Bill Gurley and Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington. [...]