Uber再融資 估值達500億美元

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber is fund-raising again.

舊金山——Uber又要融資了。

The Mobile car-hailing application is in early talks to raise a new round of financing that could value the start-up at $50 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke anonymously because the process is confidential. Uber could raise around $1.5 billion, given the amount of interest from investors in the company, the person said.

據一名熟悉洽談內情的人士透露，這款移動打車應用正在就新一輪融資展開初步洽談。這一輪融資對這家創業公司的估值可能爲500億美元（約合3100億元人民幣）。此人以洽談過程屬於機密爲由要求匿名，他說，考慮到投資者對該公司的興趣之大，Uber可能會融到15億美元左右。

The new capital will not be used primarily for expansion purposes, unlike Uber’s previous financing rounds. Instead, the funding is strategic, with an eye on partnerships, the person said.

和Uber以往幾輪融資不同的是，新的資金不會主要用於擴張目的。上述人士稱，這是一次戰略融資，將着眼於合作關係。

Uber declined to comment. The fund-raising was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Uber拒絕發表評論。《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)最先報道了本輪融資。

Uber, based in San Francisco, has raised money relentlessly in recent years at rapidly swelling valuations. So far, the company has raised more than $4 billion as it moves into new markets globally, disrupting established taxi and other transportation industries by letting people request rides through their smartphones. The company was founded in 2009 and is led by Travis Kalanick, who is chief executive.

最近幾年，總部位於舊金山的Uber不斷融資，估值迅速飆升。迄今爲止，隨着進軍全球新市場，該公司已融資逾40億美元。通過讓人們在智能手機上發出乘車請求的方式，Uber打亂了老牌出租車及其他運輸行業的舊秩序。該公司成立於2009年，由首席執行官特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)領導。

In December, Uber closed a $1.2 billion round of financing that valued it at $40 billion. The company then moved to accommodate additional investors like Baidu, the Chinese Internet giant.

去年12月，Uber結束了一輪12億美元的融資。該輪融資對其的估值爲400億美元。後來，該公司又引進了一些投資者，如中國互聯網巨頭百度。

That round followed one in June, when the service said that it had raised $1.2 billion at a valuation of $17 billion.

在12月那一輪融資之前的6月還有一輪。公司稱當時融資12億美元，估值爲170億美元。

At a $50 billion valuation, Uber would be the world’s most valuable private start-up, topping the Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi, which was last valued at $45 billion. It would also be worth more than publicly traded companies like FedEx, with a market value of $48 billion, and Nissan Motor, with a capitalization of $47 billion.

500億美元的估值將使Uber超越中國電子製造商小米，成爲世界上估值最高的私人初創公司，小米在上一次融資估值達到450億美元。此外這還超過了聯邦快遞(FedEx)和日產汽車(Nissan Motor)等上市公司的市值，後兩者市值分別爲480億美元和470億美元。

The divide between Uber and other “unicorns” — Silicon Valley’s term for billion-dollar start-ups — would also grow. Even at its current $40 billion valuation, it was nearly triple that of other elite Silicon Valley start-ups like the data analysis firm Palantir, according to the research firm CB Insights. Among Silicon Valley start-ups, only Facebook had attained a $50 billion valuation as a private company.

Uber與其他“獨角獸型企業”——硅谷對市值超過10億美元的初創企業的稱呼——之間的差距會不斷拉大。投資研究機構CB Insights的數據顯示，即便以當前的400億美元估值，也是數據分析公司Palantir等硅谷優秀初創企業的將近三倍。在硅谷的初創企業中，只有Facebook在上市前拿到過500億美元的估值。

Uber’s new fund-raising discussions come as many Silicon Valley start-ups have been on a fund-raising tear. This week alone, the lending start-up Affirm said it has raised $275 million in debt and equity at an undisclosed valuation, while Zenefits, a software-as-a-service start-up, said it had raised $500 million at a valuation of $4 billion. The fund-raising has also taken place against a more compressed time period, with Zenefits boosting its war chest in less than a year from a previous financing round.

在Uber進行新一輪融資商談的同時，很多硅谷初創公司都掀起了融資潮。僅在本週，借貸初創企業Affirm就宣佈獲得了2.75億美元的債務及股權融資，估值並未對外公佈。而軟件服務初創企業Zenefits則表示，該公司籌得5億美元，估值達到40億美元。這一輪融資也是在較短時期內舉行的，Zenefits在距離上一輪融資不到一年的時間裏就再次增加資金。

The action is not only taking place in the United States. This week, drone maker DJI, which is based in Shenzhen, China, said it raised $75 million from venture capital firm Accel Partners.

並非只有美國出現了融資潮。本週，總部位於中國深圳的無人機制造商大疆公司(DJI)得到了風險投資商阿克塞爾合夥公司(Accel Partners)的7500萬美元投資。