JUMP\u2019s decision to sell to Uber came down to the ability to realize the bike-share company\u2019s vision at a large scale, and quickly, JUMP CEO Ryan Rzepecki told TechCrunch over the phone. He also said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi\u2019s leadership impacted his decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a chance to spend a couple of evenings with him, and really talk through his vision for the business and our vision, and saw a lot of alignment,\u201d Rzepecki said.<\/p>\n
He noted that while Uber had a rocky 2017, he\u2019s optimistic Uber is on the right track.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really on the right course now and [Khosrowshahi] believes the way we approach working with cities and our vision for partnering with cities\u201d aligns with Uber\u2019s mission, Rzepecki said. \u201cThat was important for me and his desire to do things the right way. This is a great outcome and gives me a chance to bring my entire vision to the entire world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, becoming a top urban mobility platform is part of Uber\u2019s ultimate vision, Khosrowshahi told TechCrunch over the phone. As more people live in cities, there will need to be a broader array of mobility options that work for both customers and cities, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see the Uber app as moving from just being about car sharing and car-hailing to really helping the consumer get from A to B int he most affordable, most dependable, most convenient way,\u201d Khosrowshahi said. \u201cAnd we think e-bikes are just a spectacularly great product.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the acquisition, JUMP employees will join Uber\u2019s team but the bike-share company will carry on as an independent, wholly controlled subsidiary, Rzepecki said.<\/p>\n
JUMP is best known for operating dockless, pedal-assist bikes. JUMP\u2019s bikes can be legally locked to bike parking racks or the \u201cfurniture zone\u201d of sidewalks, which is where you see things like light poles, benches and utility poles. The bikes also come with integrated locks to secure the bikes.<\/p>\n
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Uber\u2019s acquisition of JUMP is not too surprising. In January,\u00a0Uber partnered with JUMP to launch Uber Bike<\/a>, which lets Uber riders book JUMP bikes via the Uber app. The majority of trips, however, still come through the JUMP app, Rzepecki said.\u00a0For the time being, JUMP\u2019s app will continue to exist but that may eventually change.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our hope the experience will be more deeply integrated into the Uber app moving forward and reflects what Uber has been working on in terms of being a multi-modal platform,\u201d Rzepecki said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Uber\u2019s international competitors have made similar moves. India-based ride-hailing startup expanded into bicycles in December<\/a>. Called Ola Pedal, the service is available on a handful of university campuses in India. Then there\u2019s\u00a0Southeast Asia\u2019s Grab<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0China\u2019s Didi<\/a>, which both launched their own respective bike-share services this year. Both Didi and Grab have also invested directly in bike-sharing startups\u00a0Ofo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0OBike<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n With JUMP under the ownership of Uber, we likely won\u2019t see JUMP partner with any of Uber\u2019s direct competitors, but Rzepecki said other types of partnerships could be interesting.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the idea of us being inside the Lyft app is not necessarily likely but there may be other partnerships that we\u2019re able to do that are less directly competitive,\u201d Rzepecki said.<\/p>\n In January, JUMP closed a $10 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Sinewave Ventures, Esther Dyson and others. JUMP\u2019s January funding brought its total amount raised to $11.1 million.\u00a0That same month, JUMP\u00a0became the first stationless bicycle service to receive a permit to launch in San Francisco<\/a>. Since then, JUMP has launched 250 dockless, pedal-assist bikes on the streets of San Francisco. Currently, people take between six to seven rides per day, with an average trip length of 2.6 miles, Rzepecki said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really know we are serving a commute,\u201d Rzepecki said. \u201cWe\u2019re serving the morning and evening commute. I think 22 percent of trips are in the morning and 20 percent in the evening commute. We\u2019ve really been a commuting solution.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, the SFMTA will determine if JUMP can deploy an additional 250 bikes. The SFMTA will make its decision based on an evaluation of the program\u2019s first nine months. That evaluation, the SFMTA told TechCrunch in January, will entail determining where the city should promote stationless bike-share, the impact stationless bike-share has on the public right-of-way, \u201cincluding maintaining accessible pedestrian paths of travel, as well as the enforcement\/maintenance burden on city staff.\u201d<\/p>\n JUMP also operates its e-bike network in Washington D.C. and plans to launch in\u00a0Sacramento<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Providence, Rhode Island<\/a>\u00a0later this year.\u00a0Through its software and hardware offerings, it operates via third-parties, like cities, campuses and corporations, in 40 markets including Portland, New Orleans and Atlanta. JUMP is also interested in deploying its bikes in Europe, where it hopes to be by spring of 2019. JUMP has also applied for a permit to operate in New York,\u00a0which recently legalized electric, pedal-assist bikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n E-bikes, of course, are not the only way to get around town these days. This year, we\u2019ve seen a number of startups launch electric scooters. While\u00a0San Francisco is trying to figure out how to regulate them,<\/a>\u00a0people are watching closely to see what comes next.<\/p>\n Khosrowshahi is one of those people. He told me he\u2019s been \u201cstaring at some of them quizzically on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Scooters are in an \u201codd spot\u201d due to the lack of regulation, Khosrowshahi said, but Uber will \u201clook at any and all options\u201d that \u201cmove in a direction that is city friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n