Shuttle startup Chariot will shut down less than 3 years after its $65m sale to Ford 2

Ford is undergoing a large scale corporate restructuring, that includes shutting its Chariot commuter shuttle service.

After Chariot raised $3m in its first 2 years, it was acquired by Ford for a reported $65m in 2016 and added to Ford’s ‘Smart Mobility’ division. In 2016, Ford paid more than $65 million for shuttle-van startup Chariot

According to a Wired report,

“When Chariot launched in 2014, it joined a wave of Uber-inspired “microtransit” tech companies hoping to disrupt transportation services by providing faster, more efficient options for riders sick of—and underserved by—traditional public transit.

Less than half a decade on, most have gone the way of the Hawaiian tree snail. San Francisco-based, elitist-wooing Leap Transit closed up shop just three months after its March 2015 launch, amid a regulatory fight with California. Bridj, which promised on-demand shuttle services, ceased American operations in early 2017. Shared rides company Via still operates in Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC, but has diversified—it also runs a software business. Meanwhile, Uber itself continues to burn through millions and millions in funding every year, even as it preps for an IPO in 2019.

Chariot struggled with ridership, spokesperson Erin Simpson says. Its 14-seat commuter shuttle services, which run limited, public routes in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in London, will shut down February 1. Chariot’s newer initiative, running vans for specific companies, will end in March. Some of its 625 employees could be offered positions within Ford.

Chariot has nearly 625 employees, some of whom will be offered new jobs at Ford. The Chariot team posted

We are truly grateful to our commuters, enterprise customers, and partners for your support over the past five years. Chariot was built on a commitment to help reduce congestion, ease the commute and improve quality of life in cities, and since our start, we have provided our customers with more than 3 million rides. In addition, we helped Ford build their mobility business, and their experience with Chariot continues to inform their mobility efforts and design decisions for the future.

Rideshare startups are undergoing transformations as the industry consolidates. Recent stories on the topic

Ride-hailing startup Fasten announced shutdown – Ride sharing and ride-hailing services have revolutionized travel for millions of people and upended the business model of existing Taxi services. While the market is dominated by big names like like Uber and Lyft in North America and others like Ola in India, smaller players are also trying to carve out a niche.

Ride Share company Grab acquires India-based payments Startup, iKaaz – Uber’s Southeast Asian ride-hailing competitor Grab said it has acquired an India-based payments startup, iKaaz, to help expand its digital payments platform GrabPay.