Ride-hailing app Uber is set to extend its transport offering beyond cars after it snapped up U.S. bike-for-hire firm Jump for an undisclosed sum.
Uber already had a partnership with Jump in San Francisco, and it said it will now look to roll out the bikes globally.
“We're committed to bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app -- so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you're going, whether that's in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more,” said Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi.
Although no exact figure was given, various reports in the media claimed the embattled group is paying around US$100mln for Jump, much less than the US$3.7bn Chinese giant Meituan-Dianping is said to have paid for Mobike last week.
Based in New York, Jump allows its users to rent and ride electric-powered bikes via an online platform.
Unlike London’s ‘Boris’ bikes or Citi Bikes in New York, the bicycles are dockless and don’t need to be returned to a specific place.
Bike-sharing industry ‘worth billions’
According to reports, around 100 Jump employees will join Uber as a result of the acquisition, which is Khosrowshahi’s first since taking the reins last August.
With a presence in only two cities -- San Francisco and Washington, D.C. -- and only a few hundred bikes, Jump is still relatively small, but it taps into one of the travel industry’s fastest-growing sectors.
The bike-sharing market is growing at about 20% a year according to analysts and is set to be worth between £3.1bn (US$4.4bn) and £4.6bn (US$6.5bn) by 2020.