Uber receives nearly $2 billion investment from Chinese firms

Uber Technologies Inc said on Wednesday it has received almost $2 billion in funding from Chinese investors, some as part of a recent fundraising round that valued the U.S. firm’s Chinese unit at $7 billion. Uber’s main global entity received the rest of the money, though the company did not specify how much each unit got. The details were reported by Chinese media on Wednesday and confirmed by an Uber spokeswoman. Previously unreported Chinese investors include China Minsheng Banking Corp, real estate developer China Vanke Co Ltd and China Broadband Capital. Other investors include HNA Group Co Ltd, parent of Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co Ltd, China Life Insurance Co Ltd, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co ltd and CITIC Securities Co Ltd. Uber’s Chinese unit was valued at $7 billion before taking on investment in its recently-closed Series B funding round, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told reporters in Beijing on Monday. Recently, the company  announced a new feature for developers called Uber Trip Experiences. Simply put, Uber Trip Experiences will make your Uber ride more enjoyable (provided you like such notifications) by allowing developers to plug in their services during your ride. And there are plenty of instances, which Uber claims these can be used for. With inputs from Reuters