Timeline of Uber
This is a timeline of the American company Uber, a transportation network company, which offers a variety of transportation and logistics services, and is an early example of the rise of the on-demand economy.
Big picture
Time period | Key developments at Uber |
---|---|
2009–2010 | Uber focuses mostly on the San Francisco Bay Area |
2011 | Uber starts its national expansion. |
2012–2013 | Uber starts its international expansion. |
2014 | Uber continues its international expansion and starts offering logistic services (like courier package delivery). It changes its tagline from "Everyone's private driver" to the much broader "Where lifestyle meets logistics". |
late 2014, 2015 | As Uber's recognition grows, the company starts to face increasing pressure from regulators, both in the United States and in India. |
2015 | Uber announces a major investment in self-driving cars. |
2015 | Uber doubles down on its efforts to attain market dominance in India (against dominant player Ola Cabs), China (against Didi Kuaidi, an entity formed by a merger of Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache), and South-East Asia (against GrabTaxi). In response, the dominant players raise huge sums of money to keep Uber at bay, and announce strategic partnerships of various sorts, with the most recent one being a partnership between Ola Cabs, Didi Kuaidi, GrabTaxi, and Lyft, the runner-up to Uber in the United States. |
Full timeline
Year | Month and date | Event type | Details |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | March | Company | Uber founded as UberCab. [1] |
2010 | July | Company | Uber goes live for the first time in San Francisco.[2] |
2010 | December | Team | Ryan Graves steps down as CEO in favor of Travis Kalanick.[3] |
2011 | February 14 | Funding | Uber announces it has raised $11 million in Series A round led by Benchmark Capital.[1][4] |
2011 | May | National expansion | Uber goes live in New York City.[5] |
2011 | December 5 | International expansion | Uber expands beyond the United States, starting by expanding into Paris, France. [6] |
2011 | December 7 | Funding | Uber announces it has raised $37 million in Series B round, including investors such as Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures (with Shervin Pishevar leading Menlo's investment), and Bezos Expeditions.[1][7] |
2012 | July 2 | International expansion | Uber launches in London, United Kingdom.[8] |
2012 | July | Product | Uber announces UberX, a service that uses lower-cost hybrid vehicles.[9] |
2012 | August | Competition | Lyft, a competitor to Uber, launches in San Francisco.[10] |
2013 | August 8 | International expansion | Uber expands to Africa, launches its first product in Johannesburg, South Africa. [11] |
2013 | August 23 | Funding | Uber confirms it has raised $258 million in Series C round at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation, with investors including Google Ventures and TPG Growth.[1][12] |
2013 | August 29 | International expansion | Uber expands to India, launching its first product in Bangalore. [13] |
2014 | April 7 | Product | Uber launches Uber Rush in New York City, a courier service using bicycle messengers to deliver packages. This marks the beginning of Uber's transition into a logistics company. [14] |
2014 | June 6 | Funding | Uber confirms it has raised $1.2 billion in a Series D round, with a pre-money valuation of $17 billion. Key investors include BlackRock, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (with partner Megan Quinn), Menlo Ventures, SherpaVentures (with partners Shervin Pishevar and Scott Stanford), Summit Partners, and Wellington Management.[1][15][16][17] |
2014 | July 15 | International expansion | Uber officially launches in China, starting with Beijing. [18] |
2014 | July 24 | International expansion | Uber officially launches in Lagos, Nigeria, expanding its presence to Western Africa. [19] |
2014 | August 6 | Product | Uber announces UberPool, which lets riders share rides based on proximity.[20] |
2014 | August 19 | Product | Uber announces a "test" for a Corner Store, which allows customers to order basic items.[21] |
2014 | October 22 - November 19 | Controversy | On October 22, 2014, an article by Sarah Lacy in PandoDaily was published where she sharply criticised the "asshole culture" of Uber and said she intended to delete the app from her phone.[22] On November 17, 2014, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith reported that Uber senior executive Emil Michael "outlined the notion of spending 'a million dollars'" to hire four top opposition researchers and four journalists. He said that team could help Uber fight back against the press by looking into "personal lives, your families". Michael was particularly focused on journalist Sarah Lacy, who accused Uber of “sexism and misogyny".[23] Lacy wrote a sharp response critical of Uber's actions.[24] The controversy was picked up by CNBC,[25] Business Insider,[26] and the New York Times Bits blog.[27] Michael Wolff, the journalist who had arranged for and invited Smith to the private dinner where the controversial remarks were made, wrote a lengthy piece about the controversy, stating that Uber executives had believed that the event was off-the-record, but that he (Wolff) had failed to communicate the information to Smith.[28] |
2014 | December 4 | Funding | Uber confirms it has raised $1.2 billion at a $40 billion pre-money valuation in a Series E round. Key investors include Qatar Investment Authority, Valiant Capital Partners, Lone Pine Capital, New Enterprise Associates, and SherpaVentures.[1][29][30] |
2014 | December 8 | Controversy | An Uber driver in Delhi allegedly rapes a passenger when driving her home late at night.[31][32] |
2014 | December 16 | Funding | Chinese search technology company Baidu announces a $600 million strategic investment in Uber, also classified as a continuation of the Series E round, thereby bringing the Series E total to $1.8 billion.[1][33] |
2015 | January 8 | Product | Uber launches Uber Cargo, which allows people to transport packages via Uber drivers. This starts in Hong Kong, and marks the transition of Uber into a logistics company.[34] |
2015 | January 21 | Funding | Uber gets $1.6 billion from Goldman Sachs in debt financing.[1][35] |
2015 | January 22 | International expansion | Uber launches its first product in East Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya. [36] |
2015 | February 2 | Team | Uber opens robotics research facility In Pittsburgh to build self-driving cars. [37] In May, Uber poaches 50 employees from Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center. [38] |
2015 | February 14 | Competition | Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, the two biggest players in the low-cost app-based taxi hailing market in China, announce a merger into Didi Kuaidi. The merged company would be significantly larger than Uber in China.[39] |
2015 | February 18 | Funding | Uber raises an additional $1 billion in its $40 billion pre-money valuation Series E, increasing the total Series E money raised to $2.8 billion (after adding the first $1.2 billion and the next $600 million raised from Baidu). The additional investors are Times Internet, Foundation Capital, and Accelerated IT Ventures.[1][40] |
2015 | March 3 | Acquisitions | Uber makes its first public acquisition, a map startup called deCarta. [41] |
2015 | April 15 | Competition | Ola Cabs, Uber's biggest rival in India, raises $400 million with the goal of growing to 200 cities by the end of the year.[42] |
2015 | June 17 | Legal | California Labor Commission deems Uber drivers as employees. [43] |
2015 | July 15 | Legal | Administrative judge recommends that Uber be fined $7.3 million and suspended from operating in California. [44] |
2015 | July 31 | Funding | It is announced that Uber has completed a Series F round, raising $1 billion at a $50 billion pre-money valuation (so a $51 billion post-money valuation). Key investors are Microsoft and Bennett, Coleman, & Co, Ltd., the parent company of The Times Group, India's largest media conglomerate.[1][45][46] |
2015 | August 19 | Funding | Uber raises $100 million in private equity from the Tata Opportunities Fund, a fund of the Tata Group in India, with the goal of using the money to help it double down on its India operations.[47][48] |
2015 | September 7 | Funding | Uber confirms it has raised an additional $1.2 billion in private equity from Chinese search technology company Baidu. Baidu had previously invested $600 million in Uber as part of its Series E.[49] |
2015 | September 9 | Competition | Chinese Uber competitor Didi Kuaidi, the entity formed through the merger of Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, raises $3 billion to move more aggressively in its battle to maintain market dominance against Uber in China.[50] |
2015 | September 16 | Competition | Didi Kuaidi, the dominant Chinese player in China's ride-hailing market, announces a $100 million investment in Lyft, the second biggest player in the United States ride-hailing market after Uber. In addition, the companies announce a strategic partnership, where people can use the Lyft app to get rides using Didi Kuaidi in China, and vice versa.[51] |
2015 | October 14 | Legal | The Government of India proposes a legal framework for ridesharing services such as Uber and its competitor Ola Cabs. Both companies claim to welcome the new regulatory framework.[52] |
2015 | December 3 | Funding | Uber announces that it is raising $2.1 billion at a $62.5 billion valuation.[53][54] |
2015 | December 3 | Competition | Uber competitors Lyft (United States), Didi Kuaidi (China), Ola Cabs (India), and GrabTaxi (South-East Asia) (all of which have Softbank as an investor) announce a global technology and service alliance. This is widely seen as an attempt by the companies to keep Uber at bay. With the exception of Lyft (which is the runner-up to Uber in the United States), all the other companies in the partnership are market leaders in their respective regions of focus.[55][56] |
2016 | April 12 | International expansion | Uber launches in Buenos Aires, Argentina amidst claims of illegality and taxi protests.[57] |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Uber in Crunchbase". Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Julian Chokkattu, Jordan Crook. "A Brief History Of Uber". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Julian Chokkattu, Jordan Crook. "A Brief History Of Uber". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Arrington, Michael (February 14, 2011). "Huge Vote Of Confidence: Uber Raises $11 Million From Benchmark Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Julian Chokkattu, Jordan Crook. "A Brief History Of Uber". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Tsotsis, Alexia (5 December 2011). "Uber Launches Its First International Efforts In Paris". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ Empson, Rip (September 12, 2012). "Travis Kalanick: Uber Raised $37M In Its Latest Round, Not $32M". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Dredge, Stuart (2 July 2012). "Apps Rush: Uber, Google Analytics...". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ Julian Chokkattu, Jordan Crook. "A Brief History Of Uber". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Ryan Lawler. "With A San Francisco Launch Imminent, Lyft Is Doubling Its Fleet Of Drivers And Readying An Android App". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Jon Russell (August 8, 2013). "Uber Comes to Africa with Johannesburg Launch". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Lawler, Ryan (August 23, 2013). "Uber Confirms That It Raised $258M From Google Ventures And TPG". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Prithivi, Swsthy (August 29, 2013). "Hello India! secret users have arrived in Bangalore". Uber Blog. Uber. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ↑ Joshua Brustein (April 7, 2014). "With Uber Rush, the Car Service Tests Manhattan-Only Courier Service - Businessweek". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
- ↑ Andrew Ross Sorkin (2014-06-09). "Why Uber Might Well Be Worth $18 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Kalanick, Travis (June 6, 2014). "4 Years In". Uber (blog). Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Stone, Brad (June 6, 2014). "Q&A: Travis Kalanick on Uber's New $17 Billion Valuation". BusinessWeek. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Tejada, Carlos (July 15, 2014). "Uber Launches in Beijing, Will Face Uber-Heavy Traffic Jams". The Wall Street Journal - China. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ↑ Jacques Coetzee (July 24, 2014). "Uber launches in Lagos as it further expands into Africa". Ventureburn.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Josh Ong (August 6, 2014). "Uber Announces UberPool, a Carpool Service with 40% Lower Prices". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Darrell Etherington (August 19, 2014). "Uber Corner Store Turns The Transit App Into A Delivery Service For Daily Staples". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ Lacy, Sarah (October 22, 2014). "The horrific trickle down of Asshole culture: Why I’ve just deleted Uber from my phone". PandoDaily. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ Smith, Ben (November 17, 2014). "Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists. Senior Vice President Emil Michael floated making critics’ personal lives fair game. Michael apologized Monday for the remarks.". BuzzFeed. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ Lacy, Sarah (November 17, 2014). "The moment I learned just how far Uber will go to silence journalists and attack women". PandoDaily. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ DiChristopher, Tom (November 19, 2014). "Uber will do anything to intimidate journalists: Lacy". CNBC. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ Johnston, Matt (November 17, 2014). "Journalist An Uber Exec Reportedly Suggested Publicizing Personal Details About Has Responded". Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ Isaac, Mike (November 18, 2014). "Uber Executive’s Comments Leave Company Scrambling". New York Times (Bits blog). Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ Wolff, Michael (November 19, 2014). "Wolff: Behind the scenes at Uber/BuzzFeed fracas". USA Today. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ↑ "Uber raises $1.2 billion for global expansion, CEO acknowledges culture shortcomings". BizJournals. December 4, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (December 4, 2014). "Uber Confirms New $1.2B Funding Round At $40B Valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ "All you need to know about Delhi rape case and Uber outrage". DNA India. December 8, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Delhi Uber Rape Case". Indian Express. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Shu, Catherine (December 16, 2014). "Chinese Search Engine Baidu Confirms Strategic Investment In Uber, Will Add Ride Requests". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Jon Russell (January 8, 2015). "Uber's Latest Experiment Is Uber Cargo, A Logistics Service In Hong Kong". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
- ↑ Lawler, Ryan (January 21, 2015). "Uber Closes On Another $1.6 Billion In Convertible Debt From Goldman Sachs". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Stevis, Matina (January 22, 2015). "Kenya Says Karibu (Welcome) to Uber". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
- ↑ John Biggs. "Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Josh Lowensohn. "Uber gutted Carnegie Mellon's top robotics lab to build self-driving cars". Theverge.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Shih, Gerry (February 14, 2015). "China taxi apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache announce $6 billion tie-up". Reuters. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Crook, Jordan (February 18, 2015). "Uber’s Series E Round Surges To $2.8 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Jon Russell (March 3, 2015). "Uber Is Buying Map Tech Startup deCarta In An Undisclosed Deal". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Russell, Jon (April 15, 2015). "Ola, Uber’s Big Rival In India, Raises $400M To Grow To 200 Cities This Year". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Jordan Cook (June 17, 2015). "Uber Driver Deemed Employee By California Labor Commission". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Nelson, Laura; Chang, Andrea; Dave, Paresh (July 15, 2015). "Uber should be suspended in California and fined $7.3 million, judge says - LA Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Uber valued at about $51 billion after latest funding round: WSJ". Reuters. July 31, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ MacMillan, Douglas; Demos, Telis (July 31, 2015). "Uber Valued at More Than $50 Billion. Ride-sharing app, which just closed a funding round, reaches mark faster than Facebook". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Tata Capital invests in taxi hailing app Uber". DNA India. August 19, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Scott, Mark (August 19, 2015). "Uber Raises $100 Million From Tata of India". New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (September 7, 2015). "Uber Has Raised $1.2B More In China With Baidu Investing As Rival Didi Kuaidi Gets $3B". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Carew, Rick (September 9, 2015). "Didi Kuaidi Closes $3 Billion Funding Round. The ride-hailing company’s fundraising is part of its escalating battle in China with rival Uber". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Buhr, Sarah (September 16, 2015). "China’s Didi Kuaidi Put $100M Into Lyft, Inks Ridesharing Alliance To Rival Uber". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Shu, Catherine (October 14, 2015). "India Proposes Legal Guidelines For Ridesharing Apps Like Uber And Ola". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ↑ Newcomer, Eric (December 3, 2015). "Uber Raises Funding at $62.5 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ↑ Griswold, Alison (December 3, 2015). "Uber thinks it’s worth more than General Motors". Quartz. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid; Buhr, Sarah (December 3, 2015). "Lyft, Didi, Ola And GrabTaxi Partner In Global Tech, Service Alliance To Rival Uber". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ↑ Purnell, Newley (December 3, 2015). "Four Uber Rivals Are Now in International Alliance". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ↑ Byrne, Paul (12 April 2016). "Uber Launches in Argentine Capital Despite Protests". New York Times. AP. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.