Uber was co-founded by Travis Kalanick.
Kalanick co-founded Uber in 2009 with Canadian entrepreneur Garrett Camp. Camp developed the idea after frustrations with finding taxis and after an expensive private-driver experience; Kalanick helped turn the concept into a company and served as an early “mega advisor.”
The startup was initially called UberCab and focused on requesting luxury black cars through a smartphone. Ryan Graves became its first chief executive in 2010, but Kalanick succeeded him as CEO later that year. Uber launched publicly in San Francisco in 2011 before expanding rapidly into other cities and countries.
A common oversimplification is to describe Kalanick as Uber’s sole founder. Garrett Camp originated the core concept and co-founded the company, while Kalanick played a central role in building and scaling it. Kalanick stepped down as CEO in 2017 and resigned from Uber’s board at the end of 2019, but his historical association with the company remains definitive.