Uber sells its business unit that works on flying taxis to start-up Joby Aviation. An acquisition amount has not been disclosed. At the same time, Uber announced that it will invest an additional $ 75 million in the start-up.
Joby Aviation is working on a fully electric passenger plane that can take off and land vertically and plans to start using it from 2023. Uber had similar plans with Uber Elevate, but the taxi company is now getting rid of that business unit.
Uber does not disclose the amount involved in the sale. The company does say it will invest $ 75 million in Joby Aviation. Uber also appears to have already invested 50 million dollars in the start-up in an earlier investment round. That had not yet been published. Part of the new deal is that the two companies will integrate each other’s services into each other’s apps. This should make it possible in the future to book a flight with a flying taxi with the Uber app.
With its Uber Elevate business unit, Uber worked on electric flying taxis for a number of years. Uber did that in conjunction with several other companies. In 2017, Uber said it plans to hold demonstrations with flying taxis in 2020. Early this year, Uber announced a partnership with Hyundai; this car manufacturer would make electric passenger planes for Uber.
Earlier this week, Uber also sold its division that works on technology for self-driving cars. This division, Advanced Technologies Group, has also been sold to a start-up called Aurora. In this transaction, Uber is also investing in the start-up and the taxi company wants to continue to work together to purchase products in the future.
Concept video from Uber Elevate from 2017