Uber: 5 things you may not know about the multibillion-dollar business

Bloomberg Business reported this week that Uber is trying to raise as much as $2.1 billion US in its latest financinground, which it says could place the company's value at $62.5 billion.

That's a big chunk of change for a company best known for its ride-hailing app.

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But as the San Francisco-based company's full name Uber Technologies Inc.suggests, its business operations extend far beyond competing with taxis.

1. It isin the meal delivery business

On its UberEATSwebsite, the companypromises to "deliver the best meals from favourite local restaurants in 10 minutes or less" in Toronto's downtown core and parts of the city's west end. It's a partnership agreement offering specific items from the menus of participating restaurants.

As of Friday, there were 13Toronto restaurants listed on Uber's website. But it's not fully door-to-door service:Customers must meet the Uber driver at the curb to get their food delivery.

2. Uberdelivers other stuff, too

The UberEATS website in Canada also advertises delivery of clothing gift sets from Joe Fresh in its menu section. What's the connection? Each gift set comes with a President's Choice food item (Joe Fresh and President's Choice are both Loblaw brands).

In the U.S., Uber offers a courier service called UberRUSH for businesses in San Francisco, New York and Chicago. According to the UberRUSH website, it is also linked toonline delivery services including Shopify, BigCommerceand 1-800-flowers.com.

3. Uberis helping developself-driving cars

TravisKalanick,Uber'sCEO, says the company embraces a future with self-driving cars. Media reports citeUberas one of the companies (along withGoogleand Apple) leading the way in developing the required technology.

Last February,Uberannounced a partnership with CarnegieMellonUniversity to create theUberAdvanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh. The initiative would allowUber"technologyleaders" to work with university faculty, staff and students in robotics engineering "to do research and development, primarily inthe areas of mapping and vehicle safety and autonomy technology," according to a news release at the time.

4.It launched carpooling services in China

According to Uber's website, it first introduced acarpooling service, called UberPOOL, in San Francisco in 2014, and then expanded it toParis, New York, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.

The websitesays riders are matched with drivers and fellow passengers going in the same direction who splitthe cost of the trip.Earlier this year, itlaunched acarpooling service calledPeople'sUber+ in five Chinese cities: Chengdu,Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

In September, the company announced itwould also make itscarpooling service available in Bangalore, India.

5. Uberistrying to get into health care

In November, the Annals of Internal Medicine journal published a study about a one-day pilot project in 2014 when Uber delivered "influenza prevention packs" and users had the option to have a nurse come and give them a flu vaccine.

Under the banner of UberHEALTH, the company offered the one-day service again for $10 in 35 U.S. cities this year, saying, "convenience and delivery method are both key components of many people's decision of whether or not to get a flu shot."

As well,Uberannounced the appointment of a Harvard Medical Schoolprofessorasits"first adviser in the field of health care."