What Uber’s investment in Lime means for Latin America

Contxto – Last Thursday (7), Uber announced its lead in an investment for US$170 million in San Fran-based micro-mobility startup, Lime. And when transactions like these happen between parties with a global presence, it’s bound to have repercussions in Latin America. 

Correspondingly, as part of the deal, Uber’s operations in regards to its electric red JUMP bikes and scooters will now pass onto Lime’s hands. They will disappear from a total of four cities in the region: Mexico City, São Paulo, Santos, as well as Santiago.

• Related article: Cornershop enters United States, plans to expand further in Brazil

In any case, Uber’s food delivery system and passenger service are still available.

Uber and Lime pursue a win-win deal

This isn’t Uber turning its back on micro-mobility as a whole, per se.

In a statement, the ride-hailing company said that it does still “firmly believe in micro-mobility and its power to positively impact cities.” However, it is Lime’s approach and scale that will make this change possible.

The transaction looks to greatly benefit both parties. On the one hand, Lime gets a serious cash injection after a very turbulent year. It also implies that it has one less competitor to deal with.

Meanwhile, Uber can now concentrate on developing its core-strengths: deliveries and ride-hailing services.

And Uber wasted no time on getting a jump start on those focal points.

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This week, it launched “Uber Flash” in five cities in Brazil. Despite the flashy name, it’s essentially a package delivery service. Uber had already enabled this option last April in four other countries in the region: Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Chile.

And of course, let’s not forget one of Uber’s big ticket items: its pending acquisition of Mexican-Chilean grocery delivery startup, Cornershop.

Wanna hear more? We recommend you listen to the following podcast episode: El marketing de boca en boca depende de ti. You can find the time stamp available in the description.

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-ML