Joby Aviation, a transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft, which it intends to operate as early as 2023, has released that Uber Technologies has agreed to invest a further US$75 million in Joby as part of a broader transaction involving the acquisition of Uber Elevate by Joby and an expanded partnership between the two parent companies. This investment comes in addition to a previously undisclosed US$50 million investment made as part of Joby’s Series C financing round in January 2020.
Under the terms of the deal, Joby Aviation will acquire Uber Elevate, while the two parent companies have agreed to integrate their respective services into each other’s apps, enabling seamless integration between ground and air travel for future customers.
Established in 2016, Uber Elevate has played an important role in laying the groundwork for the aerial ridesharing market by bringing together regulators, civic leaders, real estate developers and technology companies around a shared vision for the future of air travel. Their software tools enabling market selection, demand simulation, and multi-modal operations are at the center of their work, and form the basis of this future-focused deal.