Uber Sets Valuation Record of $17 Billion in New Funding

By Serena Saitto and Brad Stone  Jun 6, 2014 12:37 PM CT  

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Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Travis Kalanick, chief executive officer at Uber Technologies Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc. is creating a new category of hot startup: the $17 billion club.

The San Francisco-based transportation service, which lets people order private town cars and other vehicles from their smartphone, has raised$1.2 billion in a new financing led by Fidelity Investments. The funding positions the company at the front of a pack of Internet startups, at a pre-money valuation of about $17 billion, up from $3.5 billion in a financing last year.

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Illinois Senate approves ride-sharing regulations

Illinois Senate approves rules for unregulated ridesharing companies

By Chacour Koop, Associated Press4 hours ago

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- A plan in the Illinois Legislature that's close to reaching the governor's desk for approval would devastate the ridesharing industry in the state, companies including Uber, Lyft and Sidecar say.

The Senate passed a proposal with strong support Thursday that would place statewide rules on the unregulated industry that connects passengers and drivers through a smartphone app. Its burgeoning popularity in the Chicago area and across the country comes much to the chagrin of taxi company owners, who say the new innovation should play by the same rules as cabs.

The new rules would level the playing field and allow the competitors to survive, said Mara Georges, an attorney for the Illinois Transportation Trade Association, which represents taxi and chauffer livery companies.

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