Unlike many companies that are in the run-up to going public, Uber is not staying quiet.
Late Thursday, the ride-hailing giant announced that it has named Eric Meyhofer as chief executive of its Advanced Technologies Group — Uber’s self-driving car development division — and it it has taken in $1 billion in new investment in the group.
The latest round of funding includes $667 million from Toyota and Denso, a Japanese supplier of automotive parts, and $333 million from Softbank’s Vision Fund. Softbank and Toyota already have made huge investments in Uber in recent years.
With the investments, the Advanced Technology Group will be set up as its own corporation, with its own board, and is now valued at $7.25 billion.
“This investment, and our strong partnership with the Toyota Group, are a testament to the incredible work of our ATG team,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, in a statement announcing the ATG funding. “The development of automated driving technology will transform transportation as we know it, making our streets safer and our cities more livable.”
On April 11, Uber filed its final paperwork to go public with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is expected to hold its initial public stock offering sometime in May, and its IPO is expected to result in Uber reaching a valuation of $100 billion or more.
The IPO market for Bay Area companies has heated up over the past month. Uber’s top rival, Lyft went public on March 29, and on Thursday, Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications both held IPOs that saw their valuations surge on Wall Street.
