Uber | Success of the leading car service application

Uber is an American-based ride-sharing company in the year 2009. Initially, the name of the company was UberCab. It’s one of many services today that contribute to the sharing economy. The company is founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The company has an estimated 110 million users worldwide.

The Beginning

Uber originated in Paris in 2008, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp were appearing In the LeWeb. In 2007, both sold the previous startups they had co-founded for millions. Kalanick first got the idea for the ride-sharing company, In 2010 it was first tested with three cabs and then finally launched in May 2010. The name Uber, derived from the German word meaning ‘above all the rest. A bedrock principle both the founders wanted for their company. The next year they changed the name from UberCab to Uber after objections from San Francisco taxi operators. After being renamed Uber, the company got $1.25 million in capital funding to expand. Former Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning is an early investor. Two months later, CEO Graves steps down and was replaced by Kalanick. The company has 339 current employee profiles, including Founder & Chairman Garrett Camp. It also has 28 board members and advisors.

Funding

Uber has raised more than $25B in funding over 33 rounds. Uber is registered under the ticker NYSE: UBER. Its stock opened at $45.00 in its May 2019, IPO, funded by more than 117 investors. Paypal is one of the recent investors. It has made 22 investments, the most recent was in December 2021. It has acquired 13 organizations. Their most recent acquisition was Drizly on Feb 2, 2021. 

Controversies

Despite the company being active for less than a decade still, it has come across many controversies. The company had faced controversies like, spying, underpaying drivers, sexual harassment, the price surge and many more.
During its initial years, it had a dispute with the local taxi operators of California claiming them an unlicensed taxi service. In 2012 it was again in the news for surging the price by six times the normal rate during new years eve and during the Hurricane in New York City when most public transports was out of action. In 2014, its CEO Travis Kalanick faced backlash for a sexist joke about his increasing desirability. The company was testified by a former Forensic investigator in 2016, that its employee’s regularly spied on celebrities, Politicians and famous personalities. Uber had to pay $20m to settle allegations of false advertising in 2017 for false promises about earnings. The Uber drivers earned far less than the rates published in major cities in the United States.

Achievements

As per 2019 data, Uber had over 69% of the United States market share of consumer transport. As of 2019, there are approximately 4 million registered Uber drivers. Almost half of all registered drivers have multiple jobs. Uber is operational in more than 700 cities and 63 countries and has an average of 50,000 new drivers monthly. Ubereats also has 25% of the United States market share. So far, it has raised $5.9 billion and its valuation stands north of $50 billion.

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