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Gautam Gupta, who previously served as chief financial officer at Uber, has joined robotics startup Atoms in the same capacity. The announcement came via social media on Wednesday, weeks after Atoms completed a $1.7 billion funding round. Gupta spent over four years at Uber before departing in July 2017, shortly after founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO.
Gupta’s appointment represents the latest instance of Kalanick assembling a team of former Uber colleagues at Atoms. The startup recently acquired Pronto, an autonomous mining company led by Anthony Levandowski, a veteran of both Uber’s self-driving division and Google. Multiple former Uber executives now work at Atoms, which was previously known as CloudKitchens.
Notably, Uber itself participated in the recent funding round, marking a reunion between the ride-sharing company and its former leader nearly a decade after his departure. According to reports, Uber contributed approximately $100 million to the investment. Kalanick has described the funding as “unfinished business,” framing Atoms as the next chapter in a progression that began at Uber and continued through CloudKitchens.
Gupta is stepping down from his role as co-founder of venture capital firm A*, which he launched in 2020, to focus entirely on his new position. He emphasized his confidence in Kalanick’s vision, citing the entrepreneur’s determination and ability to challenge regulatory and industry obstacles as key factors in his decision to join the venture.
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Originally reported by Techcrunch →
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