Summary: It may appear that Uber is facing one roadblock after another from drivers and riders, but the company is still greatly successful and receiving million dollar investments.
On the positive side, ride-hailing company Uber picked up a $200 million investment but then had to turn around and offer to settle a class action lawsuit for $28.5 million. LetterOne, based out of Luzembourg, is putting in $200 million to help the transportation and logistics technology company break into new markets.
The fund, headed by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, was willing to take part in the strategic investment with Uber to capitalize on markets that have not yet been touched as well as those markets with fierce competition. Places such as China with Didi Kuaidi and India with Ola already have established ride-hailing companies so Uber will have to take greater effort to make a difference.
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Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said, “Every day millions of people rely on Uber to get from A to B. Hundreds of thousands of drivers use our app to make money. Our goal is simple; reliable and affordable transportation everywhere, for everyone, at the push of a button. L1’s knowledge of emerging markets will be crucial in helping us make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more opportunities for drivers.”
Uber Hit With Racketeering Lawsuit in Michigan
While Uber is working on expanding their personal brand, they are caught dealing with lawsuits left and right. They were hit with two lawsuits by customers claiming to be misled about the companies safety procedures and fees. In order to settle the lawsuit, Uber would like to pay around 25 million people that rode through their software between January 1, 2013 and January 31, 2016. A judge must still approve this effort.
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Uber is attempting to settle because they charged riders a $2.30 fee per trip to conduct background checks on drivers but didn’t actually follow through with the fingerprint checks that are required of other taxi drivers. The company does provide other safety features such as tracking trips through GPS as well as sharing abilities of the driver’s photo identification and license plate number.
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Photo: fortune.com
