24 Apr UBER OWNS ON DEMAND

Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, California, Uber’s rideshare platform revolutionized the way we get from Point A to Point B. In 72 countries and 10,500 cities around the world, Uber “owns” the concept of on demand transportation.

Though the road has been bumpy, Uber is among the most successful startups of all time. Worth over $60 billion dollars today, the company’s disruptive technology, explosive growth, and constant involvement in controversy make it one of the most fascinating companies to emerge in recent years.

In July 2015, Uber was valued at $51 billion after its funding rounds, beating Facebook’s $50 billion record and making the company the most valuable venture-backed startup in the world. Today, that title is held by ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok – valued at a whopping $300 billion.

Uber made history again in 2019 when it went public and suffered the biggest first-day dollar loss in U.S. history, despite its IPO being one of the most highly anticipated of the year, valued as high as $120 billion by Wall Street investors.

Uber has been involved in several high-profile partnerships over the years, including a 2018 joint venture with Toyota to develop self-driving cars. This partnership ended in 2020, when Uber sold its autonomous vehicle unit to Aurora Technologies. This was in part due to the backlash Uber received following the tragic death of Elaine Herzberg, a 49 year old woman who was hit by Uber’s self-driving car in March of 2018.

Despite challenges and controversies the brand has faced along the way, Uber is responsible for disrupting the transportation industry in a major way, making travel by car more convenient, cost-effective, and accessible than ever before. From rideshares to food & alcohol delivery, Uber dominates the spaces it plays in, and the company has been the purveyor of “on demand” since its inception in 2015.