Atoms, the robotics and industrial automation group founded by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, has raised $1.7 billion. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led the round, joined by Uber, Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and other institutional investors. Ben Horowitz, co-founder of a16z, joins the Atoms board. The group works in robotics across food, mining, and transport. Atoms Food includes KitchenBASE, a commercial kitchen network in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Australia. It also develops hardware such as automated bowl-builders and order conveyance robots to cut labour friction in kitchens. KitchenBASE offers licensed, ready-to-fit kitchens on flexible contracts, without the capital outlay of a traditional lease. Atoms expects the new investment in automation to improve efficiency and help operators scale faster.

Uber shares fell 3.43% to $66.70 on October 23, 2026, after The Information reported that Instacart is exploring a sale and had held early talks with Uber and DoorDash. Instacart closed up 9.2%. Bloomberg later reported that Uber walked away, citing one person familiar with the matter. Antitrust scrutiny and Uber's recent deal spree were flagged as hurdles. Uber has offered $14.8 billion for Delivery Hero and agreed on October 6 to buy ezCater for $2.3 billion in cash. Uber's chief executive officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, has said grocery and retail could grow bigger than its core food delivery business. Uber reports third-quarter results on November 4.

Acquisition will make ordering food for groups even easier and create more high-value catering orders for restaurants SAN FRANCISCO & BOSTON (October 6, 2026) — Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and ezCater, Inc. today announced that they have entered into an agreement for Uber to acquire ezCater, a leading U.S. platform for catering and workplace […]