Whether you have used it or not, the majority of people now days have heard of Uber – if you haven’t, have you been living under a rock? Well Uber is a ride sharing service that allows users to use use their phones to submit a trip request, where Uber drivers use their own cars to take people from one place to another.

Uber is a fantastic example of technology disrupting the industry – specifically taxi’s, by simply using what’s there already and thinking about things creatively by connecting someone that requires a service and someone that can provide one.

Uber was actually founded in 2009, however it only seems to have caught on recently for the world – and specifically here in Perth. By May 28, 2015 Uber was available in 58 countries and 300 cities worldwide.

Uber has created a lot of jobs with its rise in popularity. For example last week there was an elderly gentleman who was driving me who said that he Uber’s because Centerlink doesn’t pay enough for his living therefore he makes up the deficit with Uber. I thought that was fantastic – creating jobs for those who would not really be given a look at in a ‘normal’ work environment.

Uber is also a technology company that is not stopping still. They recently announced they will be experimenting with adding colours to help drivers and riders identify each other. You can read more about that here

Uber has really disrupted the taxi industry, and now Uber’s rumoured valuation is bigger than most economies on earth. It is said to be raising $2 billion, pushing its value to more than $62.5 billion. This actually means an App is now worth more than Costa Rica. Uber and its investors at least think its worth more than the individual economise of 60 percent of the nations on Earth.

Yes, you read that right. The World Bank’s data on GDP across the globe shows Uber’s valuation is higher than the total economic output of 120 of the 194 countries it tracked last year. In other words, if the ride-hailing app were a country, its economic output would rank at No. 74 worldwide, right above Kenya (which, by the way, is home to 45 million people).

Oh, and it would also be larger than Luxembourg, Guatemala, Uruguay, Croatia, Bulgaria, Macao, Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Slovenia.

This startup – Uber – in the tech industry – shows just how much this industry is worth, which can be seen somewhat below among the highest ranking startups.