After acquiring delivery startup Postmates for $ 2.65 billion last year, Uber Technologies announced on Tuesday that it had plans to transform the company's robotics division into a separate company: serve robotics.
The new company's name is an allusion to the Black and Yellow Serve delivery robot developed by Postmates X, the startup's original robotics division. The robot, designed to patrol the neighborhood sidewalks bearing the gifts of burritos and fries, will likely remain a key element of the newly formed company.
Ali Kashani, co-founder and CEO of Tech Curvech, said, "Self-driving removes the car driver, robotic delivery eliminates the car on its own and makes delivery durable and accessible to all."
In 2017, Postmates acquired Kashni's startup, Locks Inc., and began developing its pavement distribution bots in Bayana. The thinking is pretty straightforward: the world - and gig work in particular - is becoming increasingly automated, and cutting cars out of the delivery equation will undoubtedly be a way to reduce overhead costs in the long run.
"While the self-driving car removes the driver, the robot delivery itself eliminates the car and makes the delivery durable and accessible to all," Kashani said. "In the next two decades, robots with new mobility will enter every aspect of our lives - first moving food, then everything else."
Decisions to acquire and consolidate postmates come as part of a renewed push toward profit: especially in light of the financial pressures that Uber has faced since the epidemic began There has been increased interest in streamlining the focus of the business, which consists mostly of ride-hailing and distribution ventures. In 2020 alone, Uber opted to offload many of its holdings in the transport sector, including the sharing scooter and bike unit, Jump; Its logistic spinoff Uber Freight's stake; Its autonomous vehicle unit, Uber ATG; And its air taxi venture, Uber Elevate.
Uber claims more turf in pandemic food delivery triumph: The company has finally acquired post-delivery service postmates, as in Uber's masterful duet, "The combination of platforms offers more options." He actually said so. Postmates will retain its logo and app but merge its delivery network with Uber.
And, Christ-Uber is also announcing that it is going on a national "listening tour", so that restaurants and merchants can "react." The announcement comes easily, as it made a legislative push to deprive its drivers of fair wages and permanent rights in their home state of California.
Uber and Postmates announced a deal in the pandemic for a few months, as Eats looked like Uber's steered leg of the operation. Although Uber is unprofitable, some analysts expect the deal, which is fully stocked, to change. With postmates' customers, Uber Eats can proceed to Los Angeles and Miami, and some may be within spitting distance of DoorDash in Phoenix, according to The Matrix. Uber had already expanded to grocery delivery in some cities in July, beginning with the acquisition of grocery delivery startup Cornershop.
During the epidemic, delivery services have scrambled to become go-providers for all same-day needs. Doordash expanded grocery in August, with Instacart turning to non-food items (Sipora Partnership), with Amazon adding another grocery chain to its Whole Foods Empire (Amazon Fresh). Kroger is testing Ghost Kitchen for a partnership with delivery service ClustersterTruck. Ironically, Uber founder Travis Kalanick's new venture, CloudKitchens, which he started in 2017, has been largely absent during the epidemic, aside from some headlines about a suspected arson at its headquarters.
Postmates represents just one piece of Uber's grand ambition for Amazon-scale domination. In the 2019 annual report, it lists not only GrubHub and Deliveroo among its rivals but also logistics companies: Uber's freight service competes with international shipping businesses such as DHL, and its planned autonomous vehicles Tesla and Wymo Will compete with Why make money when the goal is getting too big to fail.