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Ride-hailing app Uber is worth $18.2 billion in the eyes of investors in an enormous new funding round.
The company has raised $1.2 billion of what it expects to be a $1.4 billion round that values it at $17 billion before the money goes in.
It’s the largest valuation yet for a private tech company in a sea of incredibly highly valued private tech companies. Yes, “record-breaking,” as CEO Travis Kalanick promised at the Code Conference last week.
Kalanick noted in a blog post today that Uber now operates in 128 cities, four years after launching. He claims the company creates 20,000 new jobs per month.
The round comes from Fidelity Investments, Wellington Management, BlackRock, Summit Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures and Menlo Ventures, The Wall Street Journal reported. Uber also told the Journal it planned to cut prices by 20 percent in many markets.
Last week, Kalanick said Uber would use the money to fight its competitor Lyft and rail against the “asshole” taxi industry.
Only Thursday, Uber and Lyft received their first legislative clearance for the peer-to-peer ride services they coordinate. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bipartisan bill that changes little about how the services operate, but requires things like car inspection by a certified mechanic. The companies have similar clearance in California, but it’s from transportation regulators rather than a law.
Less than a year ago, Uber was valued at $3.5 billion in what was also an enormous round, but pales by comparison.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
