Joby Aviation acquires Uber Elevate

Joby Aviation UAM.
Photo Credit: Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation (Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.), a transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft, which it intends to operate as early as 2023, announced on Dec. 8 that it has acquired air taxi service Uber Elevate from Uber Technologies Inc. (San Francisco, Calif., U.S.). As part of the transaction, Uber Technologies has agreed to invest a further $75 million in Joby, expanding the partnership between the two parent companies. This investment comes in addition to a previously undisclosed $50 million investment made by Uber as part of Joby’s Series C financing round in January 2020.

Under the terms of current deal, Joby Aviation will acquire Uber Elevate, while the two parent companies have agreed to integrate their respective services into each other’s apps, enabling seamless integration between ground and air travel for future customers.

Established in 2016, Uber Elevate has been laying the groundwork for the aerial ridesharing market — also called urban air mobility (UAM) — by bringing together regulators, civic leaders, real estate developers and technology companies around a shared vision for the future of air travel. Uber Elevate’s software tools enabling market selection, demand simulation and multi-modal operations are at the center of company’s work and form the basis of this agreement.

Joby will operate an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing aircraft it has spent the last decade developing. The unnamed craft features six tiltrotors and has capacity for four passengers and one pilot. It has a range of up to 150 miles and a top speed of 200 mph. Joby says the vehicle and the service have the potential to make a significant difference in the lives of travelers.

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JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation, says,“We were proud to partner with Uber Elevate last year and we’re even prouder to be welcoming them into the Joby team today, while deepening our cooperation with Uber. The team at Uber Elevate has not only played an important role in our industry, they have also developed a remarkable set of software tools that build on more than a decade of experience enabling on-demand mobility. These tools and new team members will be invaluable to us as we accelerate our plans for commercial launch.”

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber, says, “Advanced air mobility has the potential to be exponentially positive for the environment and future generations.This deal allows us to deepen our partnership with Joby, the clear leader in this field, to accelerate the path to market for these technologies. We’re excited for their transformational mobility solution to become available to the millions of customers who rely on our platform.”

The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in early Q1 2021, subject to regulatory review and customary closing conditions. Uber’s new $75 million investment brings its all-time total investment in Joby to $125 million and Joby Aviation’s total funding, including previous rounds, to $820 million.