Garrett Camp (born 1978) is a native Canadian entrepreneur who is famous for his ground-breaking technology ventures. His best-known companies include Uber and StumbleUpon (now Mix), both of which he co-founded. Camp is currently chairman of Mix and a founding partner of business incubator Expa, through which he funds start-ups. One of his latest projects is Eco, originally intended to be a cryptocurrency but now a personal finance/investment app.
Early Life and Education
Garrett Camp was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. He completed his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calgary between 1996 and 2001, which was followed by a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Software Engineering from the same institution between 2001 and 2005.
While still in graduate school, Camp and three colleagues launched StumbleUpon in November 2001. StumbleUpon was an internet content discovery portal—the first of its kind—that worked like a web search engine but was personalized to match the interests of the user by drawing on recommendations from connected peers and social networks.
Key Takeaways
- Garrett Camp is a billionaire entrepreneur who specializes in technologically innovative (and sometimes disruptive) ventures.
- Camp is most famous as the co-founder of Uber.
- Other notable Camp companies are StumbleUpon (now Mix) and Eco.
- Many of Camp’s investments are made through Espa, his business incubator.
- Camp’s current net worth is $3.9 billion.
Notable Accomplishments
StumbleUpon
The unique platform took off. StumbleUpon moved to the San Francisco area in 2006, after it successfully secured $1.2 million in funding from angel investors. As CEO, Camp moved with it (he has resided in the U.S. ever since).
Ebay Inc (EBAY) acquired StumbleUpon in 2007 for $75 million. Camp continued to run it, but—frustrated by the lack of flexibility and control—he bought in back in 2009. As the CEO of the newly independent company, Garrett led the successful run with a five-fold increase in StumbleUpon user base that included 25 million users by 2012.
That was its peak, Around mid-2012, Camp stepped down as the CEO to focus on other ventures; he stayed on as chairman, though. Camp again bought back the majority stake in the company in August 2015 when StumbleUpon ran into debt. It continued to stumble and shut down in 2018, its accounts transferred over to Mix, a similar platform Camp had started (see below).
Uber
In early 2009, Camp, along with Travis Kalanick, co-founded the car-hire company called UberCab, later to become Uber Technologies ((UBER), but popularly known as Uber across the globe. Kalanick became CEO, while Camp joined the board of directors, serving as chair for several years.
The service was launched in the San Francisco area in mid-2010 and gradually expanded across other U.S. cities and other international locations.
It added different variants of service — namely, UberX, Uber SUV, and UberTAXI — during 2012. Focused on reducing the cost of cab rides, Camp launched a ride-sharing option in early 2013.
At one point the highest-valued private startup in the world, Uber went public on May 9, 2019. Though it’s had a bumpy road since, it’s known for being a firm that revolutionized the car-livery industry across the globe.
Travis Kalanick was forced to resign as CEO in 2017, amid reports of Uber’s toxic work practices and culture. In late March 2020, Camp announced he was resigning from the board. He had sold or donated one-third of his company stock earlier that year .
“I have decided to shift from a board director to a board observer, and focus on product strategy.”
—Garrett Camp, announcing his departure from Uber.
Expa
In May 2013, Camp founded Expa. Expa serves as a global network of entrepreneurs who help the peer-supported creation of businesses and companies. Since its inception, Expa has successfully launched or invested in more than 30 ventures and raised over $1 billion in funding for them. Its Expa Studio division provides workspaces, operational support, and technical advice for startups and young firms as well.
In October 2015, Camp made a fresh attempt at an internet search tool, somewhat on the lines of StumbleUpon. He launched Mix.com, a portal “to discover the most compelling content” on the web for the users. Clubbing the user’s preferences along with the recommendations from friends and subject matter experts, the online content is served to the user’s mobile or computer. In 2018, the defunct StumbleUpon’s registered accounts were transferred over to Mix.
Eco
Another of Camp’s Expa initiatives is Eco. Announcing it in 2018, he originally envisioned Eco as a new cryptocurrency, but by 2019 the concept—now a partnership with Beam.io—had morphed into a more general fintech platform, an app for spending, sending, and saving money that offered high yields (2.5%) on balances and cash-back rewards.
Wealth and Philanthropy
$3.9B
Garrett Camp’s net worth as of July 2021.
Garrett Camp is ranked No. 655 on Forbes magazine’s list of global billionaires for 2021.
He recently started the Camp Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to support research into infrastructure, sustainability, and conservation projects that will have a significant global impact. The foundation is currently focusing on Every.org, a 501(c)(3) social network for fundraising and giving.
The Bottom Line
Garrett Camp is a billionaire entrepreneur who specializes in technologically innovative ventures. His best-known enterprises have all involved the internet, the cloud, and mobile devices; they have brought the digital into daily life, and some of the most successful—like Uber—have significantly disrupted it.