Uber acquires Jump; SPIDR raises $2.5 million; Flyr adds $1 Million.
Uber announced it will acquire Jump, the New York City-based e-bike startup that has been working with Uber for two months on a pilot to integrate bike-sharing options into Uber’s app, the Verge reports. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but it is believed to be between $100 and $200 million. The deal gives Uber access to Jump’s 12,000 dockless, GPS-enabled bikes in 40 cities across six countries. With Jump Bikes already in Santa-Monica, Uber’s entrance could impact the growth of Santa-Monica based electric scooter-sharing company Bird, which recently raised $100 million.
Los Angeles-based SPIDR Tech, founded by two former police officers, Rahul Sidhu and Elon Kaiserman, raised $2.5 million from investors including Sidewalk Labs (the urban tech subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.), Birchmere Ventures, Stage Ventures, Kairos Association, Heartland Ventures and No Name Ventures, Techcrunch reports. Police departments across the Southwest use SPIDR Tech’s automated messaging system to help departments respond to victims of crimes and keep them informed of the status of the investigation into their case.
Santa Monica and Mexico-based Flyr, a startup developing video advertising templates specifically designed for the iPhone and iPad, said it raised $1 million, bringing its funding total $6M, Socaltech reports. Flyr said the money was raised through a strategic alliance with Renderfam Studios, and is currently in the midst of a Series A funding round.
Technology reporter Eli Horowitz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachhorowitz13 for the latest in L.A. tech news.
