SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick has announced that the company has raised another $1.2 billion to fund expansion plans.
Uber secured an earlier $1.5 billion less than six months ago. Kalanick said in a blog post that the money, which puts Uber's value at some $40 billion, will be used in part to expand throughout the Asia Pacific region.
For a change, Kalanick acknowledged the Uber road is not always smooth.
"This kind of growth has also come with significant growing pains," Kalanick said. "The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change." Uber will become a "smarter and more humble company," wrote Kalanick, the man who encouraged "opposition research" into the personal lives of journalist writing negative stories about Uber.
With the massive capital infusion, it doesn't look like Uber is going anywhere, despite a trove of struggles as it battles regulations, competitors, traditional taxi services, unions and insurance companies.
Investors hope the new funds mean an upcoming mammoth initial public offering.
