We all know what Uber is, in a common language it’s a taxi service provider. Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American mobility service provider which enables people to commute from one place to another. Uber isn’t just limited to just providing mobility services, but also includes UberEats, Postmates. Uber is involved in many businesses, package delivery, couriers, freight transportation, and also is involved in providing electric bicycles and motorized scooters on a rental basis. Uber was founded in the year 2009 as Ubercab by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick. On the other hand, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in the year 1994, in his garage in Bellevue, Washington. Initially, Amazon began as an online marketplace for books, and it has now expanded into a marketplace for a variety of product categories. Apart from the marketplace, Amazon has a ton of subsidiaries, Zoox (autonomous vehicles), Kuiper systems (satellite internet), Ring, Twitch, IMDB, and a lot of others.Does Amazon Own Uber? Keep reading.
The real question is whether Amazon owns Uber?
- Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon is an avid investor, in-fact in 2005, Jeff Bezos founded an investment company, named Bezos Expeditions which had the sole motive of managing his investments.
- As an avid investor, Bezos has a ton of companies in his portfolio, and Uber is one of them. Back in the year 2011, Bezos had invested around 37 million dollars in Uber’s Series B funding round. Uber had gone public in the year 2019 and its shares were valued at $45 per share, after which the company stood at a valuation of 82.4 billion dollars. Uber holds a market cap of around 93 billion dollars.
- While, it can be stated that Jeff Bezos does hold a stake in Uber however, it can’t be said that Amazon owns Uber. Jeff Bezos has been involved in Uber for a long time and this definitely has contributed to Jeff Bezos’s income.
What other companies have Jeff Bezos invested in?
- MakerBot- Jeff Bezos had invested around 10 million dollars in the 3D printing company, MakerBot. While MakerBot, was among the first few companies who introduced 3D printing to the world, making sure they try to ease each and every one of its services. However, MakerBot was acquired by Stratasys, which has been a leader in 3D printing technology for more than a period of 30 years.
- Airbnb- The very famous accommodation marketplace which is the go-to-go website for many people who are on the lookout for a better and cheaper stay, instead of opting for the hotel. Airbnb provides almost an option of 5.6 million unique places to opt from. This popular accommodation marketplace received funding of around 112 million dollars from Jeff Bezos.
- Mindstrong Health- This startup has received an investment from Bezos Expeditions, Decheng Capital and along with other investors, with the total investment valued at $15 million values during its Series B funding stage in 2018. For those, who are not aware of the company, Mindstrong Health is on the run to transform mental health through its innovations in virtual care and data science. With the help of innovation, the startup aims to make people aware of mental health and make sure it benefits them.
- Lookout- It is a cyber security company that provides services to many organizations, be it large or small, and apart from that it also provides security services to individuals via their personal mobile phones. The cyber security company had secured an investment of around 150 million dollars via the Bezos Expeditions back in the year 2014.
Will It Be Beneficial For Amazon?
Yes, ofcourse! While Uber had initially commenced as a startup, later on, the way to grow bigger and increase its services it had approached a few of the avid investors for their investments, via their funding rounds. Many well-known investor personalities have invested in the mobility service provider. The top shareholders of Uber are Dara Khosrowshahi, Tony West, Nelson J. Chai, SB Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd., Morgan Stanley, and FMR LLC. Any startup which plans for diversification has always plans for funding and investment rounds, and this benefits both the startups and the investors as it allows them to explore more opportunities along with enhancing and increasing their businesses.
Will Amazon Own Uber Near In Future?
Jeff Bezos had never started Amazon with the motive of developing it in a marketplace for different categories of products, but with time and opportunities, Jeff Bezos expanded and developed Amazon as the very first choice for the consumers, whenever they are on the lookout for any product/services. And after developing Amazon, Jeff Bezos went on the expedition to become an avid investor to help and develop great business ideas along with increasing their business opportunities and diversifying their reach. And similarly, the Bezos Expedition invested in Uber and enabled it to be the leader in the market.
Conclusion
Reaching the conclusion, Amazon doesn’t own Uber, however the founder behind the marketplace (Amazon) has invested in Uber Back in the year 2011, Jeff Bezos had invested around 37 million dollars in Uber’s Series B funding round. Apart from Uber, Jeff Bezos has invested in a ton of companies like MakerBot, Airbnb, Mindstrong Health, Lookout, and many more such companies. Jeff Bezos doesn’t have the intention to own Uber and had invested in Uber after spotting the opportunity. Amazon is a marketplace for different categories of products, and Jeff Bezos is an avid investor who invests in companies via his Bezos Expedition company.
