Uber founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick has taken the reins of a Los Angeles-based real estate startup, following a $150 million investment through his new fund, 10100.
The small firm, called City Storage Systems, is focused on the redevelopment of distressed real estate assets.
That primarily includes parking, retail, and industrial properties that “will need to be repurposed for the digital era,” Kalanick wrote on his Twitter account, announcing his fund’s purchase of a controlling stake in the company.
Kalanick will become CEO of the 15-person company and expects his 10100 team “to be highly involved” in operations, he said. That apparently includes hiring — he provided his 10100 email address and asked any interested job applicants to shoot him a resume.
CSS was owned by Kalanick’s friend and fellow entrepreneur, Diego Berdakin, according to the Information technology news website.
Kalanick said he was particularly interested in two CSS projects: CloudKitchens and CloudRetail. CloudKitchens provide services for food-delivery startups, including the use of kitchens, and CloudRetail services online retailers, according to Business Insider.
Kalanick announced the 10100 fund earlier this month, nine months after stepping down as CEO of Uber amid investor upheaval over pervasive issues with company culture, including reports of sexual assault and discrimination at the company.
Kalanick received widespread criticism for contributing and not doing enough to resolve the issues at Uber.
He described the fund as “home to my passions, investments, ideas and big bets, with a particular focus on real estate.” 10100 will manage his investment and philanthropic endeavors, backed by his $5 billion personal bank account.