SoftBank revealed that it sold its Uber holdings sometime between April and July, at an average price of $41.47 per share. According to SoftBank, the average cost per share was $34.50, meaning the bank sold the Uber stake at a profit.
SoftBank’s move comes as its technology investment vehicle, Vision Fund, reported a 2.93 trillion Japanese yen loss for the June quarter.
SoftBank invested in Uber in 2018 and then again the following year, becoming the ride-hailing giant’s largest shareholder at one point. However, in 2021, the bank sold around a third of its stake in Uber and the remaining this year.
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The ride-hailing company claims to be valued at £6 billion in the latest funding round, which is the largest to date.
Bolt was founded in 2013 in Estonia by Markus Villig and now operates in 45 countries in Europe, Africa, Western Asia, and Latin America. The company launched in London in 2019 and so far only offers its ride-hailing service in the UK. Bolt plans to use the new investment to expand its offering in the UK, with the potential launch of e-scooter and e-bike rentals.
“We’re pleased to announce this new round of funding – the biggest in our history – which will help us build a future in which cities have less congestion, less pollution and more green spaces where people can easily move around in a safe and sustainable way,” said CEO Markus Villig.
Bolt currently has over 100 million customers worldwide, including 4 million in the UK.
SoftBank has seen total losses of around $4 billion on its Didi position and has also suffered from a decline in the valuation of Alibaba. Uber’s own Didi stake saw a $2 billion decline last week following the June debut of Didi’s American depositary shares as China’s officials planned fines against Didi amid a wider crackdown on US-listed Chinese companies.
SoftBank’s announcement comes just one week after Uber stock rose somewhat as the company’s trucking unit revealed plans to acquire shipping software company Transplace for approximately $2.25 billion. While shares in Uber are down by around 8%, Didi shares have dropped by 37% from their $14.44 closing price on the stock’s first day of trading. Since Didi’s US IPO, SoftBank has also seen its shares tumble.
SoftBack first invested in Uber back in 2018. The following year, SoftBank Vision Fund then invested an additional $333 million. In March of this year, Uber referred to SoftBank as a “large stockholder.”
CNN's Jon Sarlin explains how Uber moved into the biggest market in the country and defeated the formidable yellow cab industry.
Uber is close to securing an investment deal with Softbank, which if succesful, could amount to £10bn according to reports.
TechCrunch were given the following statement: “We’ve entered into an agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential investment. We believe this agreement is a strong vote of confidence in Uber’s long-term potential… strengthening our corporate governance.”
Uber have said the money is going to aid them in their international expansion and technological advancements. The aim of the expansion is partly due to the competition they are currently experiencing.
As well as an initial $1bn investment, Softbank will attempt to buy up £6.8bn ($9bn) worth of shares, resulting in a total stake of 14% in Uber. However, this is reliant on the agreement of a fairly complex tender offer.
The tender offer is set to take place on November 28th and could go on for 20 business days, making it possibly the biggest secondary transaction ever.
Given that any deal would be reliant on existing Uber shareholders selling their stakes, the process will require more work before it can be finalised. To help spread the word about their tender offer to existing shareholders including venture capitalists and ex-employees, Uber plan on putting adverts into newspapers.
According to TechCrunch, the following statement was given to reporters via Softbank on behalf of Rajeev Misra, CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisors: “After a long and arduous process of several months it looks like Uber and its shareholders have agreed to commence with a tender process and engage with SoftBank. By no means is our investment decided. We are interested in Uber but the final deal will depend on the tender price and a minimum percentage shareholding for SoftBank.”
The statement made by Softbank reveals that the deal has not been confirmed and will depend on the agreement of the tender price and percentage shareholding for Softbank.
This investment is seen by many as potentially crucial for Uber. Up until now, employees were unable to sell shares of the company and this investment will aid them in turning paper riches into cash.
It’s been a difficult year for Uber so far with legal battles involving Alphabets self-driving car division, the loss of their licence to operate in London and attacks on their company culture. The CEO Travis Kalanick was also forced to step down in June this year amid several scandals and legal wrangling with investors.
The investment made by Softbank might not only provide a welcome boost at a difficult time, it could very well be vital for Ubers future.
In a move seen by many as one friend loaning another some money to help them through troubled times and garner favours, Google has paid $1.1 billion to smartphone manufacturer HTC to expand their Smartphone business. HTC, once a major player in the market have visibly struggled in the face of huge growth by competitors such as Apple, Samsung and more recently, Huawei.
The injection of cash is believed to be focused on the development of Google’s Pixel range of smartphones currently developed by HTC with the Californian company acquiring the team who develop the hardware and securing a non-exclusive licence on HTC’s intellectual property.
Google Focus on Hardware
The deal is further proof that Google are investing heavily in the hardware market to ensure a strong future for Android and its own status within the smartphone hardware market. "We think this is a very important step for Google in our hardware efforts," Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of hardware, said. "We've been focusing on building our core capabilities. But with this agreement, we're taking a very large leap forward."
The move is an attempt to prevent Google from being left out of the loop in the smartphone industry as current Android devices can easily be adapted to bypass Google's services altogether. It appears that Google are attempting to take a leaf out of Apple’s book by ensuring smooth rollouts of their mobile operating system, such as the recent IOS 11 update, combined with a boost to their own Pixel handsets. Pixel arrived with great fanfare, but has not yet made significant in-roads to displacing either Apple or Samsung. In purchasing the HTC team who have developed it, Google are clearly hoping that will change.
Google will retain some caution however, given that they have attempted to enter the market before with their 2011 purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. That move was both disastrous and relatively short-lived with Google off-loading the business for just $3 billion in 2014.
The deal is yet to be ratified by the regulatory bodies, but caught many industry experts by surprise with the majority believing the deal would constitute a full takeover. Rumours were so abundant that Google purchasing HTC outright was imminent that the Taiwanese stock market suspended trading on HTC on Tuesday.
The move comes with several risks for the Californian tech giant, with the major one being the possibility of alienating Samsung who currently run Android on their popular range of smartphones. But what is clear is that the big winner from this deal is HTC, the struggling Taiwanese company who have now not only strengthened ties with an important ally, but crucially have acquired a much-needed cash injection which will allow them to concentrate on the further development of smartphones and also on their Virtual Reality headset, Vive, which is not only favoured by Google, but is also outselling the Facebook owned Oculus Rift by almost double.
What is certain is that this deal will be watched closely by several hardware developers wary of Google’s manoeuvres in a very lucrative market and the potential for added competition.
By André Roque
From ZipCar to Uber, from Airbnb to Couchsurfing – we’ve all seen the rise of the peer-to-peer economy, and many of us have made use of it to earn or save extra money.
But as we move towards a skill-and-asset-swapping culture, there are challenges ahead. So can the sharing economy survive? Or will it sink?
If we look at some of the biggest names in the asset-swapping game, Uber and Airbnb, we can see that they have already been struggling with regulatory hurdles. These hurdles come from governments that are still trying to understand the implications of this new landscape, and are busy creating legislation aimed at protecting their assets as well as the public’s.
For those who have enjoyed the benefits of Airbnb and Uber etc., asset sharing may feel like second nature – but the wider landscape is still fragile and yet to be explored. As is evident by the Financial Times’ Sharing Economy Summit, where the most informed brains came together to point out the possible pitfalls and concerns for those navigating this new marketplace.
Fairness
A lot of sharing economy-reliant companies are (in theory) just connecting those with a skill (I can drive and need some extra money) with those who require that skill (I have a little money and need to get somewhere by car). But how can a company that’s just connecting people with services they require be sure their labour is in a secure and properly benefitted working environment? Zero-hours contracts aside, there are concerns that a female cleaner, for instance, can be denied employment status, and therefore maternity pay and other benefits, despite working for a single company.
There are companies already working to address this issue of fairness. hassle.com for example, has strict rules around providing the London living wage to their staff. In fact, the platform’s CEO Alex Depledge says that their ultimate aim is to destroy the black markets that have been exploiting the housekeeping labour force for so long. As self-employment via online platforms becomes more common, it’s likely that governments will need to step in to protect workers.
As always, while some people are negatively affected, others can benefit from the increased demand for supporting services. It’s fair to say that more Uber drivers will mean a rise in demand for car cleaning services in the same area. A higher number of Airbnb properties will lead to a greater need for ‘on demand’ cleaning services. Homeit, a remote access provider used mostly by short term property rental hosts, is an example of one company that has spotted this correlation. It has just started to integrate cleaning services into the app, so that as you accept a reservation, you can then arrange for your property to be cleaned in time for the guests.
Trust issues
Uber has suffered massive knocks to its reputation and subsequently promised more rigorous screening processes for hiring drivers, and in these periods of mistrust it’s the traditional services that people will go back to - in this case, black cabs.
The whole idea of a sharing economy relies on utopian values, and on the delicate balance of no one abusing the opportunities it provides. We need to trust the cleaner we’re letting into our house. In the past, this was based on personal recommendation; now it comes in the form of a trusted platform. In theory, if a guest in your property damages something, you rate them badly and they can even be banned from services like Airbnb. This helps hosts to rely on the platform.
There’s also the interaction with strangers. Travellers (and hosts) may not feel comfortable waiting around to speak with a stranger. This is of particular concern to minorities and LGBTQI customers. As a result, new companies are springing up to address some of these issues, for example, Homeit provides remote access for hosts and guest – so they need never meet, and no one is left hanging around outside waiting for their host or guest to appear.
Economic impacts
Very recently, hundreds of people came together at Los Angeles City Hall for a hearing on how a tourist destination like LA should regulate its short-term rental industry. Members of the local hotel worker union as well as HomeAway, VRBO and Airbnb supporters, filled the room. The discussion was about the need for rules that place a 180-day cap on the time a room can be let during a single year. Other restrictions stated that hosts must live at the property they are renting. Discussions like these are happening all over the world, arguing that Airbnb rentals affect longer-term rental properties and increase the cost of living rent.
In Barcelona, the government is cracking down on illegal hosts who aren’t paying tax on their rental income. In 2015 Airbnb generated an economic impact of €740 million in that city alone.
In conclusion
For those of us intending to utilise the sharing economy while it’s still building up to the crest of its wave, the trials of property management, government legislation and host-wrangling could turn into a massive headache. And so, it’s the supporting platforms that are the most useful for streamlining that experience. In the short-term, the sharing economy is only set to get bigger as tech entrepreneurs come up with new and innovative ways to help us share our assets and make or save money – but in order for sharing to be the new norm, legislation and technology will need to change and develop to make the process simpler, fairer for workers, and safer for both hosts and users.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
André Roque is co-founder of Homeit, a remote access platform, that allows you to grant guests, tenants and tradespeople (cleaners, laundry, etc.) access to your property remotely. It integrates with short-term rental platforms and also recommends tested service providers in your area. It is easy, fast, reliable and, most importantly, safe. Designed for the new sharing economy – Homeit is perfect for travellers and hosts using platforms like Airbnb.
See: https://www.homeit.io/en/ and https://www.seedrs.com/homeit
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeit.international/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/homeit
Twitter: https://twitter.com/homeit_pt
Everyone’s been saying for quite a while now that drones are going to take over, the technology will be used for flying cars and we’ll be delivering almost everything via drone, but is that really the case or are we too excited to see the obstacles ahead? William Sachiti, The Academy of Robotics explains to Finance Monthly that there is a more realistic perspective.
Drones are the future of home delivery! Or at least that is what I used to believe. They appear to be an efficient means of transporting items from one location to another. My mind ran wild, picturing a drone superhighway! I was keen to establish a dedicated airspace for drones to self-navigate, and to deliver packages to customers.
But… and there is a big but. Such a big one, I no longer believe drones are the future. The issue is not technical – it is social.
The Social challenges
The more I researched, I began to realise the safety defects of a cluttered airspace, peppered with flying machines, often controlled by amateur operators. Not to mention the cost of achieving this drone superhighway in the sky.
These issues have already been encountered by Amazon, which is currently leading the way with drone delivery. For example, the retail giant must house drones near to population centres in order to be more efficient than road-based delivery.
Now imagine your neighbour’s daily impulse-buys being delivered by a very loud drone, the novelty would fade fast. Imagine the sound of a washing machine spinner at full-belt during unpredictable hours of the day, waking up your kids and spooking your spaniel. Take it a step further and imagine living near a big retailer’s drone delivery centre. The noise and intrusion could be worse than living under the Heathrow flight path.
I had initially overlooked our roads – thinking of them as ‘the past’ and drones as ‘the future’ – but I no longer believe that to be the case. Ultimately, road-based delivery using driverless vehicles is far safer, quieter and more cost effective than the seemingly futuristic, yet comparably less-practical drone courier services. It is easy to forget that we haven’t fully tapped the potential of our road networks – public, unmarked and residential. And autonomous vehicles present the opportunity to tap into and make better use of the infrastructure we already have.
So what form will deliveries of the future take?
Judging by early designs and models, autonomous delivery vehicles, will take diverse forms.
Italy’s Piaggio Fast Forward - a subsidiary of Vespa manufacturers, Piaggio - has invented a cylindrical luggage compartment capable of tailing its owner by a few metres, while holding up to 18km of cargo. This clearly shows the value of wheels on the road.
Mole Solutions is ignoring both road and air for something completely different: below-ground freight capsules. Thrown into the delivery mix, such an invention could help to reduce road (and air) traffic congestion, as well as keeping out of sight.
Pelipod on the other hand, is seeking to cater specifically to businesses that need efficient, secure and direct delivery. Bypassing post offices, courier firms and depots, the firm is pioneering delivery pods that will travel straight to the destination. Integrated electronic systems will grant access to only authorised users, and provide proof of delivery.
And Kar-Go, the driverless delivery vehicle from my own Academy of Robotics, will autonomously navigate unmarked roads such as residential areas, and use an intelligent package management system to deliver packages to retail customers, day or night.
So, road vehicles will still be the primary force for delivering packages but they’ll come in all shapes and sizes.
Delivery beyond the physical
Looking beyond the first incarnations of autonomous vehicles and towards the far-future of delivery, I believe product delivery will be digital. Driverless vehicles, and smart devices in general, will benefit from 5G mobile technology. With so many devices feeding data into the Internet of Things (IoT), devices are able to communicate and act in unison. Autonomous vehicles for instance, will be able to communicate with one another, and other road users.
Let’s put digital delivery into context. 25 years ago, the only way to send a document to someone was to have it physically delivered. With a little help from technology, the same document could, just a few years later, be sent via fax; scattered into bits of information, sent across the world and re-assembled in a matter of minutes.
As technology improved, sending a document moved from minutes, to seconds to an instant. So, if delivery of physical goods continues to incrementally improve over time, it’s not unrealistic to imagine that your latest smartphone could one day not be physically sent to you at all.
Instead, it could be purchased via a digital download and, through some 3D printer/fax machine-hybrid, be re-assembled in your living room. Of course, we can’t expect to see such an invention anytime soon. Technological advancements – despite accelerations in the digital age – are gradual.
And finally
With giants like Google, Tesla and Uber counted among the early adopters of self-driving cars, you can bet that the overwhelming majority of future vehicles, whether transporting people or packages, will be driverless.
When consumers are ordering compost from the garden centre, supermarket groceries or pretty much anything from the online superstores, you can bet that, regardless off the type of delivery vehicle, the driver will be digital.
Results from the second quarter of a year-long research study reveal how investors view the performance of a range of different players in the autonomous vehicle (AV) market, providing for each firm, the percentage of investors who judge that company as ranking in the top five for having the most investible Autonomous Vehicle technology.
Manufacturers
In the survey, conducted by international law firm Gowling WLG and economic research agency Explain the Market, Tesla (26%) topped the charts when it comes to investor confidence in AV manufacturers - closely followed by BMW (22%).
IT giants
For the world's biggest IT companies, investors ranked Google (35%) as the business with the highest potential for success in the AVmarket. This is markedly higher than other giant brands which investors feel are yet to make an impact - notably Baidu (2%), Uber (8%) and Apple (11%).
Tech brands
The survey also reveals Bosch (54%), Tata Elixsi (36%) and ParkWhiz (29%) as the most investible tech brands in the AV tech sector, according to UK investors.
Guy Shone, CEO Explain the Market said "When it comes to driverless tech UK investors are showing a deeper level of interest and a stronger commitment than ever before"
Stuart Young, partner and head of Automotive at Gowling WLG said: "When it comes to the AV sector - research shows UK investors are backing innovation from a wide range of sources. UK Investors clearly have confidence in both the old and the new, the big and the small. They are tracking the best ideas and conditions whether they come from start-ups or corporate giants."
Since the survey's Q1 results, there have been some subtle shifts in investor mood regarding the barriers towards widespread AV introduction. Whilst concerns about unclear rules and regulations have slightly diminished, doubts about a lack of collaboration between industry and government appear to be increasing.
The progress of smart cities projects is also an increasingly important factor to investors when it comes to making a decision to invest in the AV market.
As our economy enters a new period of instability, the importance of monitoring investor attitudes increases. This is the second wave of a year-long study of over 1,000 investors. The ongoing tracker study will track the confidence, attitudes and opinions of UK investors to the AV sector and reveal what investors really want as the sector develops. The study will also probe the real barriers and factors that impact confidence.
(Source: Gowling WLG)
Bloomberg Profiles looks at the story of Uber's Travis Kalanick and how he went from UCLA dropout to CEO of the world's most valuable technology startup.
Video by Michael Byhoff, Eric Newcomer, Brian Schildhorn and Christian Capestany.
Uber has recently received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test its robot cars in the state and Consumer Watchdog warned that the cars should not carry passengers while still being tested.
"When Uber illegally deployed its robot cars in San Francisco last year, the vehicles were observed driving through red lights," said John M. Simpson Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project Director. "Uber's technology simply isn't safe enough to put passengers at risk."
Under California law companies testing self-driving cars with a permit in the state must file reports of any crashes and annual "disengagement reports" describing when the robot technology failed and a human operator had to intervene. Both reports are posted on the DMV's website.
"Now that Uber has permits to test, the company's activities must be closely monitored by police," Simpson said. "What is clear is that Uber must not use passengers as human guinea pigs as part of a publicity stunt."
Consumer Watchdog asked people in San Francisco to watch out for traffic violations and safety threats by Uber's test vehicles. "If you see something, say something," Simpson said. Send reports to: UberSF@consumerwatchdog.org.
(Source: Consumer Watchdog)
Every year we see more and more up and coming golden eggs in the tech sector, so we thought we’d bring you a quick round up of what to expect for 2017, authored by Ben Little, co-founder Fearlessly Frank.
From the Silicon Valley to our Silicon Roundabout here in East London, new tech businesses are launching daily, each with a huge ambition to replicate the success of recent companies before them. When someone describes their business as “It’s like Uber, only for [insert category]” or “AirBnB for [insert audience demographic]”, hidden in the description is “It’s going to be big”, because the truth is that it could be.
We live in a time full of opportunity: not since the industrial revolution has there been the right conditions for the ‘new’ to overpower the ‘old’ and for growth to be achieved with such amazing speed, as seen with companies like Uber and Airbnb. However, although the conditions are right, the truth is only one in thousands will achieve the success of these amazing businesses, making them very rare and quite fascinating. It’s not surprising we’ve begun calling them unicorns, because they are.
- Turo is the Airbnb of cars. Anyone who’s been through the hassle of renting a car will appreciate how Turo lets you rent a car wherever and whenever you want. But it’s also a business putting money in the pockets of car owners who don’t need their vehicle every day. 38% of urban residents could easily imagine living without a car, which makes sense since in major cities the cost of congestion to individual households is over $4000 a year. The fact remains though that cars are still incredibly useful at certain times, so peer-to-peer car sharing is surely the next big place for disruption in the automotive space. 2017 should be a big year for Turo.
- Everyone is talking about VR but these guys 8i are going deeper. We think there is a good chance they are going to make it onto the unicorn list this year. 8i specialises in volumetric human capturing and is building an agnostic platform for creators to build their own content on – so this is VR going beyond gaming. Co-founder Linc Gasking says it’s all about the human dimension. They’re from New Zealand but have expanded to LA and San Francisco. Looking forward to seeing them everywhere else in 2017.
- With all the news around the pressure the NHS is under, and Trump throwing out ObamaCare, is 2017 the year of the tech MD? Technology enabled healthcare solutions have been around for a while, but perhaps people are now more willing than ever to give them a go. Companies like Babylon Health promise to connect you with a doctor in minutes. With amazing AI and bot technology on the rise, people will be able to seek immediate healthcare advice at the touch of a button. It isn’t surprising that the NHS has been quick to partner with them: the BBC said it was “…as easy as ordering a cab on your phone”. Uber for your GP sounds like it has unicorn potential to me. The question will be how they take an idea like that to market. It won’t be cheap, but the upside could be a totally new way for people to seek the help they need.
- Vero: The unicorn club has never been complete without a social network or two, Snapchat being one with its recent IPO filing revealing that the company grew revenues by 600% to $404 million in 2016. But it’s an industry that’s growing up quickly. It’s strange to think that an industry only formed in the last two decades could be ripe for reinvention, but the big five - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, are no longer networks, loved and celebrated by the users, but instead are media channels structured to serve up intelligent advertising solutions for brands. Perhaps a percentage of the billions of us who use social media sites might well be interested in trying something new, where the user is put first and their experience and data is protected. The rapid introduction of Snapchat and Instagram into a market we all thought was saturated proves it’s possible. Some have recently tried and failed. Yubl, the social messaging platform that was like Snapchat combined with WhatsApp, had a hugely successful fundraise but sadly couldn’t sustain the investment needed to compete in a tough market. One contender we have been working with could however: the next generation social media platform Vero combines privacy with ease to create a strong user experience that also doesn’t require advertising to make it profitable and grow. It’s less of a media platform and back to the basics of a social network with all the makings of a unicorn… watch this space.
- Faradion: One thing holding back the entire smartphone industry is the electric battery. These guys in Sheffield recently picked up some investment that will help them scale. Perhaps Samsung’s $3.1B loss on exploding batteries will turn up at Faradion, who are 25% cheaper than current batteries. 2017 should be big for sodium-ion battery tech.
Entry to the Unicorn Club is getting harder. Imagine the next generation of companies existing on a tree of opportunity, the successful companies powering their way into the club have been the low hanging fruit. The next generation of unicorns are going to have to think bigger and aim higher.
The environment that has made start-up success so possible, has now entered the mainstream - big businesses know they need to innovate to survive. If these companies can adopt the behaviour of these successful startups, be willing to enter a parallel universe to try new things and keep both businesses a success - anything is possible.
When you hire well, be daring and have the resource and funds to do it, new insights and ideas can come from dab hands and entrenched brands.
