Mobile App Business Success Story: The Rise of Uber

The explosion of the app market in recent years has led to a number of successful ventures and brands emerging from the technology industry. Many innovative new companies have utilised the technological advancements that have taken place over the last decade. With everything from social apps to fitness and travel apps, digital marketplaces for mobile app businesses have become the birthplace of some of the fastest growing new brands and services.

One of the most notable success stories is the phenomenal rise of Uber. The app-based private taxi booking service has become one of the most used and widely recognised mobile app business brands on the planet. The company has grown rapidly thanks to its unique approach to the market, setting a remarkable standard for other emerging app-based start-ups and inspiring a generation of would be entrepreneurs.

Uber is now one of the largest mobile app businesses in the world, but like many, comes from humble beginnings. A simple idea which struck at a time when the newly established mobile app market was showing early signs of a big future.

The seed of Uber was actually planted almost 10 years ago in 2008 when current CEO of the company, Travis Kalanick had a lot of trouble trying to flag down a cab outside of typical central London hotspots. Recognising a problem that needed to be solved. Taxi hire via bookings was not a new idea, but the simplicity and convenience of being able to complete bookings via a mobile app regardless of your location which could be picked up using your smartphones geo location technology, that’s where the innovation came in.

After the development of a simple mobile app, the first version of Uber was born. The idea was simple, tap a button on your phone and get a taxi. To many people this may have seemed like an impossible pipe dream but Travis knew that all it needed was a bit of patience and a lot of hard work.

The initial app started out as a digital black-cab hailing service, which simply allowed you to flag down a taxi without having to stand out in the rain waiting for one to stop. After the development of numerous partnerships Uber has grown to be much more than that. It is now a fully-fledged logistics company that employs its own army of independent drivers. A big step for a mobile app business born from the need for basic functionality.

Today the business is worth over $60 billion dollars and operates in over 58 countries worldwide. A pretty magnificent feat in under 10 years from concept to now. Not only has the company rapidly increased its market share over the last few years but it has also continued to improve and update the Uber app interface and its customer experience to become as seamless as possible and make it utterly impossible for a competitor to replicate.

Uber still continues to grow and expand into new markets. It recently reached the one billion transactions mark and company leaders are now looking to crack the emerging self-driving car market. Uber has come a long way from the 2008 pipe dream it once was, which goes to show just how much can be achieved with a good , albeit simple idea. So long as there is a need and you are able to fill that need via an innovative and convenient experience. Something so many mobile app businesses strive for.