Food Deliver App UberEats To Serve 70 Percent Of US Population By End Of 2018

Ride-sharing giant Uber is gearing up for a possible IPO in 2019, which may incentivize further growth in order to hit a recent hefty valuation. In order to facilitate that, the company announced Tuesday plans to expand its UberEats food delivery service so that it serves 70 percent of the United States population by the end of 2018, according to a company press release.

That would be an increase of 20 percent, as roughly half the country currently has access to UberEats, according to CNBC. By the time the expansion is finished, UberEats will be available in twice as many cities in the U.S. as it was at the end of last year.

Restaurants in new markets will be able to self-register for UberEats on the company’s website. They will be able to put their menus on the app and take care of other logistical set-up hurdles before deliveries start. Additionally, Uber said the expansion will include suburban and small markets where ride-sharing is not as big as it is in major cities.

“It’s exciting to see what’s possible by building on top of Uber’s platform to create new businesses around the world,” Uber’s press release said.

U.S. banks recently proposed a $120 billion market valuation for Uber when it theoretically goes public in late 2019. That would be nearly twice what Uber was last valued at during its most recent outside investment in August. Toyota invested $500 million in Uber to bolster the self-driving car operations of both companies.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC that Uber wants to be “the Amazon of transportation and movement,” in the sense that it would offer many different services beyond simple ride-sharing. UberEats has been the fastest growing food delivery app in 2018 but still lags well behind market leader Grubhub in market share, according to reports.

UberEats has gained a significant amount of market share in 2018 but Grubhub still has around 50 percent. The variety of services operated by Uber could give it a competitive advantage over chief rival Lyft, which mainly offers a ride-sharing service.

In other news, Uber’s head of corporate development left the company this week after allegations of sexual misconduct. Founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick also left Uber in 2017 due to reports of a sexist work environment.