Image: Rami Al-zayat via Unsplash
Welcome to NEO’s weekly tech monitoring. Here are this week’s key developments from the food and mobility tech industries.
- Uber’s UK drivers will receive paid vacation and pensions following a Supreme Court ruling. Uber is reclassifying its 70,000 drivers in the United Kingdom after the UK Supreme Court upheld a ruling last month that they should be classified as workers and not independent contractors. (CNN)
- Ride-hailing companies are beginning to rebound from their pandemic lows as Covid vaccines roll out and state restrictions are lifted. Lyft said last week was its best-performing week in terms of volume since pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020. (CNBC)
- Didi Chuxing, the Chinese vehicle for hire company, has accelerated its summer IPO plans with a target valuation above $62 billion. Japan’s SoftBank has the biggest investment in the ride-hailing leader. (Bloomberg)
- Delivery riders for apps like Uber Eats and Deliveroo will be granted the same rights as employees in Spain, including the right to collectively bargain, according to an announcement from the Spanish government on Thursday. Spain will become the first country in the world to formally give gig economy delivery drivers rights similar to those of employees. (Gizmodo)
- Olo Inc., the food-ordering software company whose board members include Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, climbed 39% in its trading debut Wednesday after raising $450 million in an IPO. (Bloomberg)
- SK Holdings has established the New Mobility Fund with Geely, the No. 1 private automaker in China. The two sides invested $30 million each in the fund, whose total size is $300 million. The two companies plan to attract a variety of global investors, including European banks and pension funds in Asia. (Business Korea)