Uber enlists Kohli in brand battle
Uber Technologies has named India’s cricket captain — one of the world’s most expensive sports celebrities — as brand ambassador, signalling that while it may be ceding ground in Southeast Asia, it’s still trying to grow in the subcontinent.
Virat Kohli would be its first brand ambassador in India in a “one of its kind initiative across the Asia Pacific region”, Uber said.
Uber is going head-to-head against Bangalore-based rival Ola, whose parent ANI Technologies is also backed by SoftBank Group. Uber is based in 31 cities in the region against Ola’s 100-plus cities.
SoftBank, which has invested about US$9 billion ($12.36b) in Uber, said it wanted the company to focus on the US and European geographies.
This advice has been partially contradicted by chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi, who on his first Asia tour last month said the ridehailing company will continue to invest in the region.
However Grab, the dominant ridehailing service in Southeast Asia and also backed by SoftBank, is close to finalising a deal to acquire Uber’s business in the region and may sign a deal this week or next, according to people familiar with the matter.
Uber and Ola have also begun talks about a deal. A merger in India may face opposition from regulators how- ever, given a lack of viable rivals in ride-hailing.
Signing on Kohli is likely to yield a huge brand boost as the 29-yearold cricketer’s appeal spans age, language and cultural demography in a country where cricket stars are looked upon as gods. He is the country’s most valuable celebrity with a brand value of US$144 million, according to global valuation advisory Duff & Phelps.
Within minutes, Kohli’s tweet that he’s looking forward to a “successful innings with Uber India” and that he’s “stoked to take a back seat” was liked thousands of times. — Bloomberg Palantir, approved its move in 2016 to sue the Army over what it called an unfair bidding process.
A judge found in Palantir’s favour and ordered the Army to revamp the way it solicited bids for the Distributed Common Ground System. The US Government Accountability Office found the Army’s current system was over-budget and underperforming.
Since President Donald Trump’s election, Thiel has gained significant influence in Washington.
He was the most prominent supporter of Trump from Silicon Valley and contributed to the campaign. Thiel helped fill positions in the Trump administration with former staff, including Trae Stephens, a onetime Palantir employee. Although he recently told the New York Times Trump’s presidency had “fallen short” in some ways, Thiel said he had no regrets about backing him.
In addition to the Army deal, Palantir has been making inroads elsewhere in the Government.
After the company made a similar legal challenge to the US Navy, officials agreed to revamp its technology procurement process last year.
Founded in 2004, Palantir is used by dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to aggregate far-flung data, find patterns and present results in easy-to-interpret graphics.
Its use by police in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans and elsewhere has raised ethical concerns about the potential for unfairly targeting minorities.
Alex Karp, who started the company with Thiel and is chief executive, said it would turn its first profit in 2017. It has declined to say if it met that goal.
Karp has also raised the possibility of an initial public offering or some other kind of transaction to let shareholders cash out. — Bloomberg