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Uber goes for everything and “steals” key startup from Walmart: what did it buy and why does it worry Rappi and Glovo?
The driver travel application was left with a majority stake in the Chilean startup with which it plans to expand to more countries in the region
Uber said Friday that he agreed to take a majority stake in Cornershop, a grocery supplier in Chile and Mexico, which recently expanded to Peru and Canada.
The agreement, whose terms were not disclosed, comes at a time when Uber seeks to expand beyond shared travel and become a diversified logistics and transportation operator.
“Whether it’s a trip, to order food from your favorite restaurant, or very soon, receive groceries in your home, we want Uber to be the operating system for your daily life,” said the company’s executive director, Dara Khosrowshahi
“We are excited to partner with the Cornershop team to broaden their vision, and we look forward to working with them to deliver groceries to millions of consumers on the Uber platform,” he said.
The San Francisco-based shared travel giant already has a restaurant delivery service called Uber Eats and is also in the electric bicycle and skateboard business. It also has a long-term project that would include flying taxis.
In this way, Uber wants to “take over” the streets and gives a master blow against delivery applications, by remaining with one of the online food sales services in the region.
Oskar Hjertonsson, founder and CEO of Cornershop, said the partnership will help the group expand beyond Latin America.
“Uber is the perfect partner as we embark on our quest to bring our unique food flavor at the request of amazing retail partners to many more countries around the world,” he said.
The companies said Cornershop will continue to operate under its current leadership, and the investment is expected to close in early 2020.
Earlier this year, Mexican authorities prevented US retail giant Walmart from acquiring Cornershop.