Uber is all set to acquire the electric-bike startup Jump Bikes. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the announcement on Monday that Uber has reached a deal for this acquisition. Jump operates as a dock-less bike-sharing service in San Francisco and the District of Columbia. The terms of this deal were not disclosed. However, according to the news reported by TechCrunch last week, the sale could exceed $100 million.
“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,” Khosrowshahi said in a blog post.
Through this deal, both companies say that their goal is to present multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app. This would offer users multiple options for fast and affordable transportation while making it easier to live without owning a car.
“We’re excited to begin our next chapter and to play a significant part in the transition of Uber to a multi-modal platform,” Jump Bikes founder and Chief Executive Ryan Rzepecki said in a blog post Monday. “Joining Uber presents us with the opportunity to realize our dreams faster and at a much larger scale.”
Jump launched with the name Social Bicycles in 2010 with an aim to build smart and powerful bikes that can be locked to any rack. At present, Jump is one of the five dock-less bike operators in the Washington area. According to a company spokeswoman, the company has deployed around 200 bicycles in the city and is considered one of the most popular bike services. Each bike averages around 3.5 trips daily with 11 miles per day. Jump bikes have an electric motor in the front wheel and a battery concealed in the frame. The cost of hiring a Jump bike is $2 for 30 minutes of ride time.
Through this deal, Uber will gain access to 12,000 dock-less, GPS-enabled bikes in 40 cities spread across six countries. With Uber’s capital, this network will be able to scale up even further and will also help Uber’s mission to expand into new modes of transportation.
