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Travis Kalanick. Travis Kalanick.

Uber guru sells out to launch a new kitchen venture

DALLAS SHERRINGHAM
It’s not often that Australian businesspeople have access to the next big thing in business opportunities around the world.

But if you make note of “Ghost Kitchens” you won’t be far off the mark.
 
The new buzz words on everyone’s lips, Ghost Kitchens are the brainchild of the man who co-founded Uber, Travis Kalanick.
 
Mr Kalanick has severed his last ties with the ride-services company, resigning from the board and selling all his shares as he turns his focus to the new venture creating “Ghost Kitchens" for food delivery services.
 
Mr Kalanick has sold his entire stake of roughly $4.3bn worth of shares in Uber. His brashness was also blamed for a string of scandals and complaints over his leadership.
 
Uber stock has dropped more than 30 per cent since the company went public in May.
 
Mr Kalanick, who helped found Uber in 2009 and once exerted nearly complete control, stepped down as chief executive in June 2017 under pressure from investors after a string of setbacks.
 
Mr Kalanick turned Uber into the world's largest ride-services company, revolutionized the taxi industry and challenged transportation regulations worldwide.
 
"Very few entrepreneurs have built something as profound as Travis Kalanick did with Uber," Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement, crediting Mr Kalanick's "vision and tenacity".
 
But his brashness was also blamed for a string of scandals and complaints over his leadership, resulting in a shareholder revolt to push him out.
 
Mr Kalanick said in a statement that now Uber was a public company, he wanted to focus on his current business and philanthropic pursuits.
 
He is currently working on a start-up that aims to build large industrial kitchens and lease space to restaurants.
 
The Ghost Kitchens would prepare meals for food delivery without the costs of wait staff and real estate of locations that serve diners.
 
The company, known as "CloudKitchens," to date has collected $578m in investor funding by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
 
Mr Kalanick himself has invested "several hundred million" in the business, a spokesperson said, declining to provide the full amount.
 
 


editor

Publisher
Michael Walls
michael@accessnews.com.au
0407 783 413

Access News is a print and digital media publisher established over 15 years and based in Western Sydney, Australia. Our newspaper titles include the flagship publication, Western Sydney Express, which is a trusted source of information and for hundreds of thousands of decision makers, businesspeople and residents looking for insights into the people, projects, opportunities and networks that shape Australia's fastest growing region - Greater Western Sydney.