Uber’s finance chief Brent Callinicos is leaving the taxi startup March 16, 2015 Uber’s finance chief Brent Callinicos is driving off into the sunset and leaving one of the most highly valued tech startups in the world in the rear-view mirror. The former Google executive who has been with Uber for less than two years will stay on as an advisor, chief executive Travis Kalanick told investors. “Almost [...]
Gotham Air is Uber for helicopters March 13, 2015 Pills, pets, hot stone massages – there's an Uber for all of them. But now the "hail something from your smartphone" model has gone considerably more upmarket, after the launch of Gotham Air – an Uber for helicopters. Admittedly hailing a helicopter comes with more conditions than hailing a cab. Firstly, at the moment it's [...]
Uber rival Lyft valued at over £1.5bn March 12, 2015 TAXI APP Lyft has raised $530m (£353.6m) from a new funding round, softening the blow dealt by a US judge’s ruling against the ride-sharing service. Lyft is now valued at more than $2.5bn after the round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten closed this week. Rakuten now owns an 11.9 per cent stake in the [...]
Uber rival Lyft valued over £1.5bn after £353m funding round March 12, 2015 Taxi app Lyft has raised $530m (£353.6m) from a new funding round, softening the blow dealt by a US judges’ ruling against the ride-sharing service. Lyft is now valued at more than $2.5bn (£1.67bn) after a funding round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten closed this week. Rakuten now owns an 11.9 [...]
Uber teams up with UN in a bid to recruit one million women drivers March 10, 2015 Uber has announced plans to create one million jobs for women as drivers by 2020, as it looks to bounce back from negative publicity received in recent months. The taxi app company has partnered with the United Nations to accelerate economic opportunities for women and help them to become more independent. UN Women executive director [...]
2015 Forbes’ billionaires list: Bill Gates joined by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Uber’s Travis Kalanick and Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel March 2, 2015 While Forbes’ list of billionaires is topped by the usual suspects – Microsoft founder Bill Gates, business magnate Carlos Slim and investment guru Warren Buffett – young tech entrepreneurs are hot on their heels. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg joined the top 20 for the first time with an estimated fortune of $33.4bn (£21.7bn), placing him [...]
Uber has launched its own quarterly magazine: Momentum March 2, 2015 Not content with branching out into grocery and fast food delivery Uber has decided to try its hand in the media business. The ride-sharing giant is launching its own quarterly magazine – Momentum. The publication will be targeted at the company's 150,000 drivers. Momentum will be on sale in Boston, Oklahoma, San Francisco, New York [...]
Food deliveries roll out at Uber and Burger King February 19, 2015 CONTROVERSIAL ride hire firm Uber yesterday launched its latest experiment in delivering more than just people with UberEATS in Barcelona. UberEATS works with local restaurants in the Spanish city to put together a daily selection of meals that can be ordered to arrive in under 10 minutes. Meanwhile, US fast food chain Burger King has [...]
Tech #Crunchies 2014: Uber named best overall startup of the year February 6, 2015 Uber's success drove it into first place at the tech Crunchie awards in San Francisco this morning. The taxi-app company picked up the prize for “Best Overall Startup in 2014” at the event, beating runners up GoPro and SnapChat to the title. Uber was founded six years ago and has grown over [...]
Delivering people isn’t Uber’s $40bn dream – Bottom Line February 3, 2015 If Uber floated on the London Stock Exchange tomorrow – don’t hold your breath – it would be the thirteenth largest FTSE 100 constituent. Its $40bn (£26.3bn) valuation is larger than that of Twitter ($24.7bn) or Adobe ($35bn). News that Uber is exploring self-driving cars, mapping and vehicle safety shouldn’t surprise those who watch the [...]