UberTravis Kalanick, disrupting hunger.Perhaps in light of all the recent unflattering news, Uber has decided to dial up its PR efforts.
On Wednesday, according to a blog post on Uber's website, Uber employees - including CEO Travis Kalanick -volunteered at a place called Cooking Matters, which provides important cooking skills and resources.
It's affiliated with No Kid Hungry, an organization that's working to eradicate child hunger. Uber's recent UberLUNCH efforts, a one-day-only on-demand lunch delivery service in cities including New York and Philadelphia, had 100% of its profits go towards No Kid Hungry.
Uber could certainly use the good PR. This week, the company has faced regulatory battles in San Francisco and Los Angeles, has been shut down in Spain and Thailand, and faces backlash in Delhi, India, after one of its drivers allegedly raped and beat a female passenger.
This negative press has all happened in the wake of good news: last week, Uber announced it raised $1.2 billion at a $41 billion valuation. Uber is looking to use that money to expand into the Asia Pacific region, where it faces competition from companies like the SoftBank-backed GrabTaxi and Singapore's Temasek Holding-funded Didi Dache.