Tech #Crunchies 2014: Uber named best overall startup of the year

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Uber's success drove it into first place at the tech Crunchie awards in San Francisco this morning. 
 
The taxi-app company picked up the prize for “Best Overall Startup in 2014” at the event, beating runners up GoPro and SnapChat to the title. 
 
Uber was founded six years ago and has grown over that time to be established in 250 countries worldwide, but it was last year that it really came into its own. 
 
$2.6bn (£1.7bn) worth of funds were raised by the company, and by the end of the year its total value reached $40bn (£26.1bn). An API strategy was also launched to enable users to call cars from a range of third-party apps, helping to expand its user base. 
 
Uber's success has shown no signs of stalling, either – earlier this week it announced a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the US to open a robotics lab for the development of driverless cars.
 
Called the Uber Advanced Technologies Center, Uber said the purpose of the research centre will be to develop long-term technologies that allow Uber to bring “safe, reliable transportation to everyone, everywhere”. 
 
This is the eighth year the Crunchies awards have taken place, and each year it celebrates some of the most promising startups across internet and technology.