Startup Factories: Uber
Meet the latest 400+ startups founded by former Uber operators
Welcome back to another edition of New Economies, which is rooted in my experiences working in venture. We’re living in extraordinary times—the most exciting era ever for technology, with groundbreaking trends emerging constantly that will redefine how we live and work in the future. Join me on this journey—subscribe to New Economies to stay ahead of the curve in technology. We’re just getting started!
This week’s sponsor
We are partnering with Notion to offer 6 incredible months towards a Plus plan and Unlimited AI for startups in our ecosystem at no cost. If you don’t know Notion, thousands of startups use the platform to run a wiki, manage projects, share documents, and more.
Redemption Instructions:
1. Submit an application here and select ‘New Economies’ on the partner list.
2. Include our partner key, STARTUP4110P22126.
We recently launched a new series called Startup Factories—when a startup achieves success, it often blossoms with powerful network effects—former employees, or "operators," go on to launch their own ventures, invest in early-stage startups, or even establish their own venture funds.
Startup Factories explores the technology powerhouses, the visionary founders they cultivate, and the groundbreaking startups they build—past and present.
Throughout this edition, we discover the former operators at Uber who are now building their own startups.
*Throughout this edition, we have used Harmonic as our startup data provider.
About Uber
Uber is the largest ride-hailing app globally.
What do we know so far about the former operators turned founders?
180+ startups have raised at least $500K.
Additionally, 220+ startups have been building in stealth since 2024.
The majority of startups are building in the U.S.
Most former operators-turned-founders have experience in both operations and software engineering.
The founders collectively have raised over $10 billion.
*Only startups that have raised a minimum of $500K USD are featured in our graphs.
When were the startups founded?
Of the 180+ startups featured, 33% have been founded since 2022.
Roles held at Uber
Of the former Uber operators who became founders, 48% have a background in operations, while 34% come from software engineering.
What’s interesting about Uber—compared to other Startup Factories we’ve covered, such as Palantir, NVIDIA, LinkedIn, and Stripe—is that most founders come from strategy and operations roles, rather than software engineering.
Where are the startups headquartered?
Most founders are building in the U.S. as our insights indicate.
Latest fundraising activity
Of the 180+ startups founded by former Uber employees that have raised at least $500K, most are at the Seed stage. Early signs indicate that some are successfully advancing to Series A and beyond.
Average funding rounds
From our data room analysis, former Uber operators who became founders have raised the following average amounts per funding stage based on their latest rounds.
$10 billion to date…
The former operators have collectively raised over $10 billion to date, and they are starting to produce a number of notable companies, including:
LALAMOVE is an on-demand delivery platform born with a mission to empower communities by making delivery fast, simple and affordable. They have raised $2.5B to date.
BARKBOX is a monthly subscription service platform that provides dog products. They have raised $280M to date.
Dott is a transportation company that offers shared electrical scooters and bikes. They have raised $228M to date.
Average team size
Among the 180+ startups that have raised, 39% of the startups have two co-founders.
Universities attended
Among the universities attended by founders, Harvard ranks as the most popular, followed by Stanford, UC Berkeley, INSEAD, Yale and Carnegie Mellon.
The most active investors
From the 180+ startups listed, 13% have raised from Y Combinator. The most frequent additional investors include: Sequoia Capital, A16Z, Lightspeed, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, FJ Labs, Plug and Play, Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures and General Catalyst.
*Y Combinator also appeared as the most active investor in our previous editions covering former NVIDIA, Palantir and LinkedIn operators.
Categories the startups are building in
31% of the startups are building across AI followed by Software, FinTech, Consumer, and Blockchain as the strongest categories of interest for founders to build the next generation of technology powerhouses.
Meet the 180+ startups
Meet the 180+ startups founded by former Uber operators that have raised at least $500K.
Meet the 220+ stealth startups
In addition to the 180+ startups that have raised at least $500K, discover the 220+ founders who have been building in stealth since 2024. Some of them might just be the next unicorns.
If you're enjoying reading New Economies, help this edition reach more readers by clicking ❤️ and 🔄 at the top of this post.
Upgrade your New Economies subscription to become a premium subscriber and receive:
Complete access to our data room on Startup Factories.
Complete access to our members-only community.
Complete access to The Ultimate Startup AI Handbook.
Are you a creator and looking for new sponsors? Subscribe to access our data room which includes hundreds of platforms sponsoring creators.
The Operator’s Handbook: All the resources to launch your entrepreneurial career.
$1 million in discounts at HubSpot, Notion, and other platforms.
Full access to all New Economies newsletter editions.