Uber makes IPO case that it’s about the platform, not the losses

Uber, which was founded in 2009 and had operated a black-car service with professional drivers, launched its lower-cost ride-hailing service in 2013.

Uber Technologies Inc, the current era’s archetypal startup, moved toward becoming a public company April 11, revealing that it racked up a US$3bil (RM12.38bil) operating loss last year and hoping potential investors will look beyond that. 

Less than two years after being tapped to take Uber to its initial public offering destination, chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi’s stamp on the company has been branding it as a “platform” – a word that appears more than 700 times in its IPO prospectus.