Uber is getting a bike-sharing company called Jump Bikes for an undisclosed sum, the companies divulged Monday.
The deal marks Uber’s first acquisition since it deputized Dara Khosrowshahi CEO and sold a stake to SoftBank with the aim of going viewable next year.
“Our ultimate goal is … making it easier to survive without owning a personal car,” Khosrowshahi said in a blog post averring the deal. “We’re committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app — so that you can select the fastest or most affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the tunnel, or more.”
Jump’s neon red bikes can be located by users, paid for and unlocked functioning a smartphone. When riders are done with one of the bikes, they can leave them anywhere that’s convenient, if it’s legal to do so — no kiosks required.
Bike-sharing technology is far simpler to know than self-driving cars. Uber has recently had to suspend its autonomous conveyance testing after a deadly accident in Tempe, Arizona.
Uber has already partnered with Vault to offer its pedal-assist electric bikes in San Francisco.
Jump CEO and founder Ryan Rzepecki weighted his company will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary with all 100 hands joining Uber. Rzepecki will report directly to Khosrowshahi.
The associates are also exploring ways to make e-bikes useful to Uber Puts couriers. “They have found increased efficiency from manoeuvring the e-bike in tests,” Rzepecki said. “We see this as a potentially big segment.”
While bike-sharing has been wildly non-professional in China and parts of Europe, its fate in the U.S. is still to be determined. Venture capitalists tease been pouring money into bike sharing companies here, in wishes the segment will grow like it has overseas.
Last week, one of the biggest bike-sharing rostra in China, Mobike, was acquired by Meituan Dianping, the nation’s largest provider of on-demand online air forces, for $2.7 billion.
Prior to its acquisition by Uber, Jump Bikes had initiate $24 million in venture funding from investors including Menlo Gambles, SineWave Ventures and SOSV.
Jump, founded in 2010, was the first proprietorship to offer dockless bike sharing in the U.S. One competitor that followed Gambol into the market, LimeBike, has raised $132 million since it was developed in January 2017.
U.S. start-ups such as LimeBike, Spin and Zagster will now deux competition not just from Uber-owned Jump, but Chinese players be relevant to to the U.S. including Mobike and Ofo.