Uber’s history began when its founders, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, in Paris, found it difficult to find a taxi. Realizing the demand for transport, the executives decided to create a platform that would allow them to order premium cars. Uber was founded in 2009 in California as an app to facilitate access to transportation.
Currently, the company is present in more than 600 cities, allowing app users to request races and ordinary people to earn money with their own cars. According to information provided by the company, the platform currently has 75 million users, 3 million partner drivers and makes about 15 million trips per day.
Uber’s mission is to provide reliable transportation for people, everywhere. For this, the company follows guidelines such as mutual respect, safety and quality. According to company data, Uber’s policy is based on “zero tolerance to any type of discrimination”.
After receiving investments from large companies, Uber began to expand its area of operation. Today, the company also offers food delivery services, cargo transportation and has laboratories for the development of technologies for autonomous cars.
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How Uber Was Created
A year later, in 2008, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp attended LeWeb, a technology event in Paris where they heard the idea of reducing transportation costs by sharing a vehicle with other people. Later, they both try to get a taxi back to no avail. That is when they begin to fantasize about the idea of creating a means of transport that is requested by simply pressing a button . From these ideas Uber was born in 2009 . This man is a clear example of who follows her, achieves her .
Thus, in 2009 UberCab was born by the hand of Travis Kalanick, with the help of Garret Camp as co-founder. The first year of this company focused on offering premium vehicles in one click, in some metropolitan areas of San Francisco. An expensive service compared to the Uber we know today.
Two years later, in 2011, the startup’s rise to success began . “Cab” (the name by which taxis are designated in the US) disappears from the company name after a series of problems with the San Francisco taxi drivers union. Despite its high cost, Uber becomes a fully available service throughout the city. The ease and simplicity of ordering a car at the push of a button on the phone drove the growing popularity of the app .
In addition, the company reached a value of 60 million dollars , after obtaining various investments from people interested in the project.
Birth of Uber X
That same year, Uber arrived in New York and managed to internationalize by establishing the service in Paris. This is possible thanks to an investment of 32 million dollars. Among its investors was Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
In 2012, the company announced Uber X , a low-cost transportation transportation service that allows people to drive under the Uber name with their own vehicle . The Uber we know! This new feature manages to trigger the success of the startup.
In 2013, Uber inaugurated its services in India and some cities in Africa. Investments in the company did not stop growing until they reached 3 thousand 760 million dollars at the end of that year.
Parallel to the expansion of Uber around the world, other services were released. In 2014, Uber started operating in China and uber rush launched in Manhattan. A delivery service through cyclists to different places in the city.
Uber services
In 2014, Uber launched UberRUSH in beta mode, only available for the city of Manhattan. This version featured a delivery service via cyclists It was the best way to deliver packages quickly and on an “urgent” basis, which could easily reach other major cities.
This version was so new that by 2015 it was already present in 25 more cities.
During the month of August 2014, Uber launched a new version, UberPOOL, a service that stood out for sharing trips with another user who goes to the same destination. This service provided a new way to share expenses and save money while using the tool.
In 2015, Uber updated its services and launched the UberCARGO application , a tool that was developed in Hong Kong and was considered the first immediate delivery service .
With this new service, the company not only stood out as a transport tool, but also consolidated itself as a multifunctional logistics company. A few months after its appearance, UberCARGO was already present in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Barcelona.
In 2014 Uber entered the Chinese market , and this became its largest source of income.
Uber decides to buy the cartography startup deCarta, all in order to depend much less on third-party applications such as Google Maps.
Uber and all company services
In this list that I present below, I will show you all the Uber services and which ones are available, taking into account that Uber is present in 633 cities, but not all of them offer the same services.
UberPOOL: it is one of the most sought after options by users who have the app, it allows you to share a trip that you are going to make with other people who are on the same route, it is available in all cities where it operates .
UberX: is available in all cities where it operates, with this service you enter your destination, confirm the starting point and then select UberX. When the Driver Partner assigns you, you can view his photo and the details of the car, you can also track him according to the map’s specifications.
It is one of the most expensive services, depending on the car you choose, its size and space.
UberGo: This app service is only available in India and provides only hatchback rides .
UberAuto: It is a function only available in Pakistan and performs the same function of UberX.
UberTaxi: Only available in some cities and stands out for being attended by a common taxi driver, which can minimize expenses.
UberEATS: A service that stands out for the delivery of food, according to the restaurants that are affiliated with the service. It is available only in 166 cities where the platform operates and that in Colombia competes strongly with Rappi.
UberRUSH: Present in the city of Chicago, New York and San Francisco; is a cyclist courier service.
UberBOAT: Present in Istanbul and Croatia, and it is a service to transport water.
These are part of the services offered by the App according to the country or city where the platform is 100% operational. It is important to note that Uber adds special services that are given according to promotions or special dates.
For example, on national cat day , users can travel with their pet to any destination.
All these services have allowed the brand to spread and achieve great success within its market. In 2015 the company made about 2 billion trips, and by 2016 some 40 million users had already been registered.
Payment methods for service
Regarding the payment for the service, there are certain factors that influence. One of them can be the distance, in this case the driver can set the rate or depend on a system very similar to the taximeter.
Some services such as UrbeX, the rates vary according to the vehicle model, or the demand that exists at that time.
Regarding the payment method, users can cancel with:
- Credit card
- Cash
- Google wallet
- Paypal
- Upi
With all these alternatives, Uber seeks to guarantee a more optimal, stable and safe service, where the user can have several options to cancel.
During its expansion, Uber had to face several brawls with taxi drivers around the world . In 2014, taxi drivers from London, Berlin, Paris and Madrid staged a large-scale protest against Uber. Taxi companies claimed Uber was unfair competition by avoiding paying high license fees and bypassing local laws.
Spain,2015
That same year, Uber stopped operating in Spain after a commercial judge ordered the cessation of the company’s activities. But in 2015 the company, closed by court order, began to obtain permits for passenger cars with a driver to resume its service within the law. For this, it proposes different agreements and jobs to operate again throughout Europe.
United Kingdom.2016
In 2016, Uber was tried by preventing it from operating in London , where the company had 40,000 registered drivers. Transport for London (TfL) claimed that Uber was not eligible to be licensed . This restriction was lifted in June 2018, allowing the service again under a 15-month license along with certain conditions. 2017
INDIA, December 2014
Uber cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadav raped a 27-year-old MNC executive on Friday night in New Delhi. Following which the cab service has been banned in Delhi.
NEW YORK, 2014
Amid growing global uproar against US-based taxi service company Uber, a former driver with the company has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a six-year-old girl in New York when he rammed his car into the family as it was crossing a street last year. (AP)
THAILAND, December 2014
Thailand ordered US online taxi booking company Uber to cease operations immediately for improperly using cars and unregistered drivers on Tuesday
NETHERLANDS, December 2014
A Dutch court ruled on Monday that Uber must stop working with drivers who do not have a taxi licence. The court in The Hague sided with the Dutch Ministry of Transportation that Uber’s ‘UberPop’ service violated the country’s taxi laws. Violation of the court’s order — which Uber said it would appeal — could attract a fine of up to 100,000 euros for the company and 10,000 euros for every violation by a driver.
UNITED STATES, November 2014
At a dinner in Manhattan, top Uber executive Emil Michael “outlined the notion of spending ‘a million dollars’ to hire four top opposition researchers and four journalists (to) help Uber fight back against the press — they’d look into ‘your personal lives, your families’, and give the media a taste of its own medicine”, online news media company BuzzFeed reported. The BuzzFeed article also said Uber had accessed personal Uber travel data of a BuzzFeed reporter.
France,June 2015
French taxi drivers slam uber as “economic terrorism”
“Economic terrorism ” is used to denote low prices,flexible work hour and its outside French law
French courts cracked down on uber and uberpop was discontinued in country
UNITED STATES, February 2016
Uber driver accused of shooting 8 people.Driver blamed uber for attack when he said to investigator app made him like “puppet”
India,October 2020
Uber faces huge protest because of accusation of moror vehicle act
Travis Kalanick,C.E.O and founder of uber stepped out as CEO of company
Travis Kalanick announced in 2017 his departure from the management of Uber after being subjected to significant pressure from its shareholders , after the controversy of various sexual harassment , business malpractices , and discussions of the rate cuts with the company drivers , and even problems with their active social life . A life with a rather affected reputation, both professionally and personally, which was added to the sudden death of his mother in an accident,
According to Kalanick’s own statements at the time, “I love Uber more than anything in the world, and at this difficult time in my personal life, I have accepted the request of investors to step aside so that Uber can build again in instead of being distracted with another fight »
Despite his departure from the company’s management, the founder continues to be one of its main partners, with 8.6% of the company’s shares.
Conclusion
Despite Huge protests and several controversies uber is still one of the most valuable startup on this planet and gaining huge investment from it’s investors
Uber Current valuation is more than $18 billion which make it one the most valuable startups
And we also happy for uber their future endeavours
