Uber Elevate is being acquired by Joby Aviation, the California-headquartered electric air taxi developer said in a press release published on Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020.
Uber Technologies is making a $75 million investment in Joby Aviation that includes the acquisition of Uber’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company, Uber Elevate, according to a Dec. 8 press release. Joby Aviation is developing an eVTOL aircraft set to operate in 2023.
The $75 million investment will be added to a previously undisclosed $50 million investment from Uber in January 2020 for Joby’s Series C financing round, according to the release. Joby Aviation’s total funding will now stand at $820 million with the new investment by Uber.
“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,” JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation said in a press statement. “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.”
According to the release, Joby Aviation and Uber will create integration between ground and air travel for future customers by integrating their respective services into each other’s apps.
Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate shared his thoughts on the new deal on Twitter.
“Advanced air mobility has the potential to be exponentially positive for the environment and future generations,” Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said in a press statement. “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.”
Joby Aviation and Uber are not new partners. In Dec. 2019, they signed a multi-year partnership to launch an urban air taxi service with Joby supplying electric air taxis and Uber providing support services, skyport infrastructure, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces for deployment in 2023.
Uber also sold its self-driving unit to Silicon Valley startup, Aurora, yesterday.