The start-up Via, a ride-sharing service that pools commuters, faced some headwinds as it sought new financing recently. Its primary competitors include two of Silicon Valley’s best-financed companies, Uber and Lyft. And it went looking for new financing at a time when venture capitalists have begun to tighten their purse strings amid concern that many of the start-ups that they have backed may not survive.

Yet Via appears to have done well: The company was to announce Thursday that it had closed on $70 million in a new round of financing, with an additional $30 million expected to close in the next several weeks.

The latest round was led by Pitango Growth, an investment firm based in Israel, and included C4 Ventures, Hearst Ventures and the investment firm of the billionaire Roman Abramovich, who may be better known as the owner of the London soccer team Chelsea. About 70 percent of the new round came from new investors, according to Isaac Hillel, a managing general partner of Pitango Growth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/business/dealbook/via-silicon-valley-ride-sharing-financing.html