Uber Buys E-Bike Sharing Company JUMP for around $200 Million
JUMP recently announced it agreed to sell its e-bike sharing platform to ride-sharing giant Uber. This acquisition is a part of Uber’s ambition to offer app users a wider selection of vehicle options.
Ride-sharing industry insiders say this news isn’t at all surprising. Uber has been collaborating with JUMP since this January on its Uber Bike app feature.
Just a few weeks before this acquisition became public, Uber and JUMP executives were in talks to make a sale of around $100 million. Although the amount of money Uber paid for JUMP has yet to be verified, some sources believe Uber spent around $200 million.
With Uber at the helm, JUMP believes it can become a dominant player in the global e-bike sharing space. JUMP executives say they have confidence Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will help the bike-sharing company attract more users and partner with big cities faster than they could have done on their own.
As mentioned above, Uber’s main goal in acquiring JUMP is to offer city-dwellers a wider array of mobility options to help them get where they need to go however they want to get there. Ultimately, Uber wants to become the ultimate “go-to” app for city travel.
Business experts point out that Uber’s acquisition of JUMP isn’t new in the ride-sharing industry. In fact, Uber is playing catch up to other ride-sharing companies that have already made inroads in the bike-sharing space. For example, popular Asian ride-sharing companies Didi and Grab have already been investing heavily in bike-sharing platforms.
JUMP executives hinted that they are still interested in partnering with other companies to expand their customer base…just so long as they don’t directly compete with Uber, of course. Don’t expect JUMP to be singing a deal with Lyft anytime soon!
JUMP is the first dockless e-bike sharing company to operate in San Francisco. Since January, JUMP released 250 e-bikes into the Golden City for locals to test out.
Current estimates suggest most San Franciscans who use JUMP bikes either use them during the morning or evening commute. JUMP says most e-bike users in San Francisco take between six and seven rides every day with rides averaging just below three miles on each trip.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has been working closely with JUMP throughout this pilot program. After reviewing JUMP’s initial nine months in the city, the SFMTA will decide whether it’s safe to release 250 more e-bikes this October.
Besides San Francisco, JUMP is operational in the nation’s capital. A few American cities JUMP is working hard to get involved in this year include Sacramento, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Island. JUMP also has ambitions to penetrate the European market sometime in 2019.
To learn more about Uber’s acquisition or to download JUMP’s app, feel free to visit JUMP’s official website at http://jumpbikes.com/.