Uber has lost some original Jump Bikes employees, including its founder, less than 2 years after it bought the startup
- Jump Bikes founder Ryan Rzepecki has departed the company more than 18 months after it was acquired by Uber.
- His departure, along with a handful of other founding employees, while amicable, marks a milestone in Uber's new mobility efforts.
- Uber continues to view bikes and scooters as a customer acquisition tool in order to continue to grow its total userbase.
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Founder Ryan Rzepecki and other members of the original Jump Bikes team, purchased by Uber in 2018, have departed the company.
At least three other members of the Jump team that joined Uber through the acquisition have also departed recently, including Justin Wiley, Jump's third employee and former head of business development.
Rzepecki confirmed his December exit to Business Insider, and an Uber representative said: "Ryan has helped make new mobility a core part of the Uber platform in over 30 cities around the world. We thank him for all his work and wish him best of luck in the future."
While the handful of exits come two months after a big reorganization at Uber, some of which affected Jump and its larger New Mobility unit, much of the original team is still in place more than a year and a half after the merger. These original employees still at Uber include Nick Foley, Jump's second employee, and general counsel Avra van der Zee.
New Mobility, which houses Uber's bike and scooter efforts, has raised prices and abandoned some cities in recent months as the ride-hailing giant fights tooth-and-nail to turn a profit.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi in November touted bikes and scooters as a "strong customer acquisition channel" on a conference call with investors, noting that unit economics continue to improve.
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