Uber is expanding
its ride options with the purchase of Jump Bikes, a dockless, electric bike-sharing
startup.
Uber CEO Dara
Khosrowshahi announced the acquisition in a blog post this morning, writing
that Uber wants to eliminate the need for people to own a car and “that’s why
we’re committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within
the Uber app - so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get
where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway or
more”.
Financial terms of
the deal have not been disclosed.
Jump was founded in
2010 as Social Bicycles. The company changed its name to Jump Bikes in January this year as it pivoted from selling smart bikes to city governments to the current direct-to-consumer
model that uses its own fleet of custom-designed electric bikes.
Also in January, Uber
began a pilot program with Jump that allowed consumers in San Francisco to find
and rent the electric bicycles directly from the Uber app.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
“Our hometown pilot
is off to a very strong start, with riders enjoying a convenient and
environmentally friendly way to cruise up and down our trademark hills,” wrote
Khosrowshahi.
“Jump’s CEO Ryan
Rzepecki is an impressive entrepreneur who has spent the better part of a
decade bringing bike-sharing to life across the globe. I’m thrilled to welcome
his team and their stellar product onto the Uber platform.”
Hybrid model
The bike-share
service will continue to operate under the Jump brand.
The company says its
e-bikes bridge the gap between bikes and cars, noting that the average distance
per trip in San Francisco has been 2.7 miles, compared to an average of less
than a mile for non-e-bike usage and five miles for a ride with Uber or Lyft.
In a post on Medium,
Rzepecki wrote: “Combining Jump’s track record of product innovation and
city partnerships with Uber’s scale, operational excellence and resources will
allow us to make a global impact faster than if we were to pursue our vision
alone.”
Past investors in
Jump Bikes have been the New York Angels, Rose Tech Ventures, OurCrowd, SOSV,
SineWave and Menlo Ventures.
There’s been a lot
of activity in the bike-sharing sector recently. Last week Brazilian start-up Yellow announced
$9 million in seed funding and Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan acquired Mobike.
And in January, Chinese
ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing announced it would launch a bike-sharing
service in its app.