The Uber Mafia

Startup Mafias is a blog series that shines a light on unicorn tech companies producing the next generational entrepreneurial talent. Learn how you can start to track when an employee of any company in the world leaves to start a company of their own.

Author

Dishita Shah
March 20, 2024

For our first Startup Mafia Series, we’re going to take a deeper dive into some of the companies that were started after their founders spent time as an employee at Uber. With Compass, you’re able to track all employees who previously worked at Uber and started a new company. If you’d like to track companies like Uber, you should book a demo for our data-driven VC platform Compass.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list but instead a look at some of the founders who have already seen success to at the earliest stages of their entreprenurial journey.

Uber

Founded in: 2009

Founders: Travis Kalanick & Garrett Camp

Stage: IPO on May 9, 2019

Uber fundamentally reshaped the traditional taxi industry by introducing a seamless and app-based approach to ride-hailing. The company's influence extends beyond its disruptive business model and has also led to alumni who have taken the lessons learned and the innovative mindset cultivated during their time at Uber to become founders in their own right.

Ex-Uber founders spotted in Compass

All successful companies begin their life as a startup before joining the Mafia ranks. Below we highlight ex-Uber employees who are recent founders and have been spotted in Compass in the early stages of building.

Founded in: 2023

Fundraised: Amount not disclosed

Compass founder background highlights:

  • Based in Paris, France

  • Technical

  • Ex-Big Tech

Parker spent time at both Uber as a Product Manager & Senior Software Engineer and Lyft as a Principal Engineer before founding Deja Blue Energy. Deja Blue is a startup that specializes in developing, installing, and operating smart, scalable EV charging solutions.

Founded in: 2023

Fundraised: Amount not disclosed - investors include OpenAI Startup Fund

Compass founder background highlights:

  • Based in San Francisco, USA

  • Technical

  • Ex-Big Tech

  • Serial Founder

Archa worked at Uber as a Software Engineer before launching her own startup, an AI co-pilot called Milo that helps parents manage the mental load of everyday parenting.

Founded in: 2023

Fundraised: Amount not disclosed - investors include Matrix Partners and Able Partners

Compass founder background highlights:

  • Based in New York, USA

  • Technical Founder

  • Ex-Big Tech

  • Ex-Unicorn

Steve spent time at Uber as a Senior Software Engineer with experience at Cash App and Brex before launching Benny, a startup that helps financial service providers access and manage government benefits for their customers. 

Founded in: 2023

Fundraised: Amount not disclosed - investors include Y Combinator and CMCC Global

Compass founder background highlights:

  • Based in New York, USA

  • Technical

  • Ex-Big Tech

Tushar worked as a Software Engineer at Uber, Apple, and Robinhood before launching WalletKit, a developer platform for building web3 apps with simple HTTP APIs.

Khalid Ashmawy - Stealth mode

Founded in: 2023

Fundraised: n/a

Compass founder background highlights:

  • Based in New York, USA

  • Technical Founder

  • Ex-Big Tech

  • Serial Founder

Khalid spent over 3 years at Uber as Senior Tech Lead Manager before launching Huspy, a proptech startup, and is once again building in stealth!

This is a sample feed of the companies you can discover through Compass at the earliest stages of their launch. If you’d like to learn more feel free to book a demo here.

The Mafia

Some ex-Uber employees have already seen great success from launching their startup and scaling it to even reaching an exit. Below we look at some of the founders further along in their entrepreneurial journey following their time at Uber.

Founded in: 2018

Fundraised: $228.9M with investors including EQT Ventures and Prosus Ventures

Dott is a company on a mission to transform urban mobility by offering sustainable ride options to city dwellers currently operating over 50,000 shared electric scooters and electric bikes in more than 35 cities. Henri spent time at Uber as Head of Consumer Partnerships EMEA before confounding Dott with Maxim Romain. Dott has announced plans to merge with Tier in 2024 with Henri to take the CEO role at the new organisation.

Founded in: 2018

Fundraised: $70.3M with investors including Cobalt Ventures and Kleiner Perkins

MedArrive is a healthcare startup that brings medical services directly into patients' homes, bridging the gap between virtual care and the need for in-person healthcare. Dan worked at Uber as GM, Head of Uber Health, and Lyft before launching Medarrive with a mission to improve health outcomes and equity by making healthcare more accessible, especially to hard-to-reach populations, and by providing a more convenient patient experience. Dan says that at Uber he gained an appreciation for the network effects a platform and a marketplace at scale could have.

Founded in: 2018

Fundraised: $319.9M with investors including CRV and Battery Ventures

Kodiak Robotics is at the forefront of revolutionizing the freight industry with its cutting-edge technology stack designed specifically for long-haul trucks. Since its inception, Kodiak has been laser-focused on leveraging advanced technology to revolutionize transportation, enhance sustainability, and most importantly, save lives. Founder, Don previously served as a Software Technical Lead at Uber. Kodiak recently partnered with Maersk to launch the first commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City.

Founded in: 2017

Fundraised: $34M with investors including CRV and Battery Ventures. Acquired by Gopuff in 2021

RideOS builds cutting-edge proprietary technology for advanced routing, on-demand dispatch and fleet optimization for the fast-growing delivery and logistics industries. For 3 years Chris was Head of Map Services at Uber where he built Uber's Maps team from the ground up and Justin led the ideation and creation of Uber's Advanced Technology Division, which consisted of self-driving and mapping business units. In 2021 Gopuff, a delivery service startup that brings a wide range of products directly to customers' doorsteps acquired RideOS as it launched in complex and high-density cities. Today Chris and Justin and partnering up once again and working on an AI product in stealth.

Founded in: 2019

Fundraised: $203.5M with investors including Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures

Temporal develops and distributes the world's leading open-source durable execution system. Brands such as Indeed, Netflix, Remitly and Snap build their services and applications with Temporal to make them reliable to run, productive to enhance and easy to troubleshoot and repair. Samar and Maxim both spent over 4 years at Uber as Software Engineers before leaving and launching Temporal.

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