[blackwasp]

Last week, we reported that Uber had filed for an IPO and was expecting to raise US$ 10 billion. Toyota, DENSO and Softbank Vision Fund (SVF) will be investing US$ 1 billion into the ride-hailing company’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), which aims to accelerate the development of automated ride-sharing services.

As part of the deal, the Toyota and DENSO will invest US$ 667 million while SVF will put in US$ 333 million. This investment values Uber ATG at US$ 7.25 billion. Toyota will also contribute a further US$ 300 million over the next 3 years to cover the costs associated with this project.

This is not the first time Toyota has partnered with Uber. In 2018, the company invested US$500 million to deploy Toyota Siena-based autonomous vehicles on a pilot basis by 2021.



Link to the Team-BHP News

[rrsteer]

As good as the Japanese are in technology and engineering, I feel they are also under-confident. Early part of this decade they were bamboozled with the rise of Google, Apple, FB etc. More recently I see Japanese executives fixated on China. The few I have met in the past 2-3 years, always lament the government backing and access to data that Chinese companies have.

Recently, I was part of a project where a Japanese technology powerhouse - a market leader in surveillance related devices/equipments used in airports- wanted to gain more insights on facial recognition companies sprouting up in China. During our final presentation, the executives from the Japanese company appeared so apprehensive and scared of the Chinese competition, that they revealed that they had already decided to invest in one of the Chinese startups. It appeared to us, that the investment was driven more by fear, and an urge to react to developments happening around them, than logic. Perhaps, something similar here.