Uber sells off flying taxi division in drive for profit
Uber has sold off its loss-making flying taxi division to California-based firm Joby Aviation, the second such disposal the ride-hailing firm has made in two days.
In a statement released late last night, Joby said that Uber would invest an extra $75m into the company as part of the acquisition of Elevate.
That takes Uber’s total investment into the start-up, which is aiming to bring its aerial mobility platform to passengers in 2023, to $125m in total.
Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said that the sale would allow the company to “deepen its partnership” with Joby.
“Advanced air mobility has the potential to be exponentially positive for the environment and future generations. We’re excited for their transformational mobility solution to become available to the millions of customers who rely on our platform.”
The two companies will incorporate each others services onto their respective apps to enable ease of booking both ground and air transport in the future.
The announcement came just a day after Uber said it had sold its self-driving unit to autonomous vehicle startup Aurora.
Uber will transfer its 1,200-employee self-driving unit to Aurora, which at present has 600 staff, and will invest $400m into the project, the Financial Times reported.
Both sales come after the ride-hailing app made a $625m loss in the last quarter.
It has told investors that it will prioritise its core ride-hailing and food delivery platforms to achieve profitability by the end of 2021.
The firm has also implemented stringent cost cutting measures, including large rounds of layoffs.
Uber launched the Elevate division in 2016 and earlier this year promised the launch of flying taxi services in Los Angeles, Dallas and Melbourne in 2023.