Earlier this spring, both Uber and Lyft introduced new safety features and policies following the death of a university student who was kidnapped and murdered after getting into a vehicle she believed to be her Uber ride. Today, Lyft is announcing an expanded set of safety features and programs, including those that help riders find… Continue reading Lyft adds more safety features including in-app emergency assistance, reminders to check the plate
Tag: Lyft
GM’s car-sharing service Maven to exit eight cities
GM is scaling back its Maven car-sharing company and will stop service in nearly half of the 17 North American cities in which it operates. A spokesperson who confirmed Maven was shutting down in some cities, without identifying the locations or number that will remain, said the company plans to focus on markets that have… Continue reading GM’s car-sharing service Maven to exit eight cities
GM’s car-sharing service is pulling out of eight cities, including Chicago and NYC
Maven, the car-sharing service owned by General Motors, is ending operations in several major North American cities. According to The Wall Street Journal, the mobility brand will wind down service in eight of the 17 cities in which it operates, including Boston, Chicago, and New York City. Maven will continue to operate in Detroit, Los… Continue reading GM’s car-sharing service is pulling out of eight cities, including Chicago and NYC
Usain Bolt launches two-seater electric vehicle which starts at $9,999
VIDEO4:1504:15Cities need help with congestion: Usain Bolt on electric scooter firmStreet Signs EuropeUsain Bolt's Mobility company has launched a two-seater, all-electric and zero-emission vehicle.
Dubbed the Bolt Nano, it was unveiled at the VivaTech conference in Paris Thursday. Whilst detailed information about the vehicle has yet to be revealed, prices start at $9,999, with deliveries starting in 2020.
Those interested in the Bolt Nano can put down a refundable deposit of $999 to reserve a vehicle, which has a swappable battery and seats one passenger in the front and one in the back. The vehicles are small enough for four to fit into one parking space.
The launch of the Bolt Nano comes in the same week that the firm announced it was rolling out its e-scooter offering in Paris. Users of the scooter service locate their vehicles via an app, paying for their ride through an account with the company. In the U.S., it costs $1 to unlock a vehicle and then 15 cents per minute.
Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso Thursday, Bolt said that, having retired from sport, he was entering a new chapter of his life. “Through traveling, through my times as a track athlete, I've learned that the cities around the world need help with congestion,” he said.
Bolt, one of the most successful and iconic athletes of all time, is a co-founder of the business. The firm says its aim is to cut congestion and people's reliance on “personal vehicles” by partnering with city governments to “weave transportation alternatives into the fabric of urban environments.”
Sarah Haynes is also co-founder of the firm. She told CNBC that there was a “big, big appetite for finding solutions for transportation issues.”
“The cities that we have today are the same ones that have been there for centuries, and they're not made for this many cars,” she explained, going on to add that the firm was “looking at a fleet of transportation solutions that are electric. Our designs with our scooters are all customized so we can recycle every single part, including the batteries.”
The way people move around urban areas is changing, with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft now offered in major cities across the world. Well established cycle-share schemes are also available in capitals such as London and Paris.
In the electric scooter market, Usain Bolt's venture is one of many looking to tap in to the shared transport sector. Firms such as Bird, Lime, and Bolt – formerly known as Taxify – also offer users a platform that allows them to locate and hire electric scooters using their smartphone.
Whether electric scooters take off and become a popular mode of transport for urban commuters remains to be seen. Regulatory hurdles pose a significant challenge to their mass adoption.
In the U.K., for example, e-scooters are considered to be “powered transporters.” This means that, currently, they are defined as being “motor vehicles” and it is illegal to use them on a public road without complying with several requirements, which in practice is difficult. Use of powered transporters on U.K. pavements and cycle lanes is also prohibited.
Change is afoot, however. In March 2019, the government announced what it described as “the biggest review into transport in a generation.” The review will look at regulations surrounding vehicles such as e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers and will explore modernizing old laws that date back to the 1800s.
What Uber and Lyft’s investment bankers got right
Startup CEOs heading to the public markets have a love/hate relationship with their investment bankers. On one hand, they are helpful in introducing a company to a wide range of asset managers who will hopefully hold their company’s stock for the long term, reducing price volatility and by extension, employee churn. On the other hand,… Continue reading What Uber and Lyft’s investment bankers got right
The City of Tomorrow Approaches a Tricky Intersection: The Corner of Technology and Quality of Life
The City of Tomorrow Approaches a Tricky Intersection: The Corner of Technology and Quality of Life By Marcy Klevorn, President, Ford Motor Company Ford Motor CompanyBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing May 14 Ford convenes its second City of Tomorrow Symposium on May 23 at The Container Yard in downtown Los Angeles. The past few decades of technology disruption have improved the lives… Continue reading The City of Tomorrow Approaches a Tricky Intersection: The Corner of Technology and Quality of Life
Uber prices IPO at $45 per share, toward the low end of range
VIDEO3:3403:34Needs to be path to profitability to go publicPower LunchUber priced its IPO at $45 per share Thursday, toward the low end of its stated range.
At the IPO price of $45 per share, the company will be valued on a non-diluted basis at about $75.46 billion, which will put the stock's market cap right around the size of Caterpillar's and make it one of the most valuable companies ever to go public. On a fully diluted basis, Uber has an implied market valuation of $82.4 billion.
Early reports suggested Uber was seeking a valuation of up to $120 billion. Its expected rangewas between$44 and $50 per share, according to a filing last month.
The company is offering 180 million shares of common stock, which means it could raise around $8.1 billion on Friday, with an option for underwriters to buy an additional 27 million shares.
A ride-hailing pioneer and Silicon Valley darling, Uber made on-demand transportation a new norm throughout the world, while accumulating massive losses and controversy along the way.
In 2018, Uber's revenue reached $11.3 billion for the year, up 43% from 2017, while reporting adjusted losses of $1.8 billion, an improvement over losses of $2.6 billion in 2017, according to its IPO filing. The company has never turned a profit.
To cover these losses and fund its rapid expansion, the company raised more than $24 billion from a wide range of investors since its founding a decade ago, according to Crunchbase. Investors have included traditional VC firms like Benchmark, and companies with interests in transportation like Alphabet and Toyota. Its biggest shareholder is Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, which invested more than $8 billion through its Vision Fund and owns 16.3% of the company pre-IPO.
“Uber is a great reminder to venture capitalists that the biggest opportunities lie in our most common needs as humans,” said Shawn Carolan, an early Uber investor and partner at Menlo Ventures. “When a start-up presents, look beyond the current product, which often feels trivial, to the underlying need being served. An on-demand black car service was easy to dismiss, but nearly everyone needs transportation.”
At Uber, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi replaced co-founder Travis Kalanick in 2017 after myriad missteps for the company. Kalanick's ouster was preceded by revelations about unchecked sexism within Uber's ranks, and a high-stakes lawsuit over trade secrets from Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car business.
While Khosrowshahi is working to restore Uber's reputation, the company faced driver strikes in major cities this week leading up to the IPO.
Personal mobility remains Uber's core business. Its ride-hailing services reach into 63 countries and more than 700 cities. But its ambitions and revenue streams have diversified into bike and scooter rentals, food delivery and freight. Uber is also developing air taxis and driverless car technology, among other things.
Uber is engaged in an intense pricing battle with its chief competitor in the U.S., Lyft, as the companies try to attract and retain riders with low fares, while paying drivers just enough to keep them on the platform. Lyft went public in late March. Its stock has fallen more than 25% since its IPO.
The companyplans to list on Friday with the ticker UBER.
CNBC's Leslie Picker contributed to this article.
Clarification: Uber priced its IPO at $45 per share on Thursday, toward the low end of its stated range. The relation of the price to the stated range was unclear in an earlier version of this article.
GM CEO Barra Confirms Electric Pickups Are Coming
General Motors will have a complete line of electric vehicles and that includes pickup trucks, CEO Mary Barra confirmed today. GM will not cede leadership in trucks or electric vehicles, Barra told investors on a call to discuss first-quarter earnings. Barra said further details on the development of its electric trucks will come later, but… Continue reading GM CEO Barra Confirms Electric Pickups Are Coming
Equity Shot: Judging Uber’s less-than-grand opening day
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. We are back, as promised. Kate Clark and Alex Wilhelm re-convened today to discuss the latest from the Uber IPO. Namely that it opened down, and then kept falling. A few questions spring to mind. Why did Uber… Continue reading Equity Shot: Judging Uber’s less-than-grand opening day
Uber’s IPO Hits a Yellow Light as Stock Price Stays Below Opening
Where was the pop? Investors in Uber—German for over—should be rejoicing on the company’s opening day on the NYSE. Instead, the stock opened at the planned $45 and has remained under that price as of midday. Typically, an IPO is first sold through investment bank underwriters to big institutional investors and to favored individual clients,… Continue reading Uber’s IPO Hits a Yellow Light as Stock Price Stays Below Opening