Uber's valuation reached $41 billion after the app-based car service company raised a new $1.2 billion investment round Thursday, making it potentially more valuable than most publicly-traded Fortune 500 companies.
According to Fortune, that means the new valuation outpaces those of Delta Airlines, CBS, and Kraft Foods. Uber has also outraised its next-closest competitor, Lyft, eight times over.
"International expansion probably is the key theme of the fundraising," Bill Gurley, an investor and member of the board,
told The Wall Street Journal. "We feel remarkably good about where we stand in the domestic market and our real growth initiatives are focused internationally."
Uber allows customers to request a black car, sedan, or SUV from a smartphone app, which charges rates similar to taxis. Uber drivers work as independent contractors, splitting the fare with Uber 80/20.
The service has come under fire from municipal regulatory agencies as well as incumbent taxi alliances that have claimed time and time again that local statues are keeping them at a disadvantage. Consumers, however, have taken to the service — helping double the company's revenue every six months, according to co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick.
TechCrunch reported that "For now Uber is not revealing the investors but names that have been floated include Sequoia, TPG, Fidelity Investments, Wellington Management, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Menlo Ventures."