Uber offered insight into its latest strategic decisions on Thursday, revealing that it has decided to shut down its food delivery business in Italy while exiting the Israeli market entirely.
A company spokesperson explained that the decisions are “in line with our efforts to focus on markets where we have opportunities for sustainable growth.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi confirmed that Uber is only looking to invest in markets where it has the ability to emerge as either the largest or the second-largest player.
In Italy, Uber is trailing behind Just Eat and Glovo in the food delivery market, while it lags behind Gett Taxi and Yango in Israel’s taxi and ride-sharing market.
The company confirmed that its decision to withdraw from Italy would affect around 50 Uber employees as well as thousands of couriers and restaurants. Uber makes use of self-employed contractors for its delivery service.
Despite its decision to withdraw from two markets, Uber maintains that its ride-hailing service is booming in Europe, where taxi drivers are increasingly relying upon Uber to supplement their curbside pickup business. Uber’s largest markets in Europe are Britain, France, Spain, and Germany.