Ara Labs Puts a Digital Billboard on the Roof of a Moving Uber

The first thing you notice is the typography. It’s clean, sans-serif, and rendered in bright white against a black screen, mounted on the roof of a yellow cab idling in traffic. It’s not a destination or a phone number, but a brand name, a tagline, a call to action that feels less like a roadside distraction and more like a notification from the city itself. This is the unit of attention Ara Labs is selling: a digital screen that moves through the world, turning a taxi, a rideshare, or an EV charger into a broadcast node.

Founded in 2016 as Cargo, a company that stocked rideshare vehicles with snacks and goods for passengers to purchase, Ara Labs executed a sharp pivot in January 2020 [Axios, January 2023]. It abandoned in-vehicle commerce for the empty real estate above the driver’s head. The bet was that a connected, GPS-aware digital display on a moving vehicle was a fundamentally new kind of advertising inventory,one that could be targeted, measured, and updated in real time. Today, the company describes its business as providing digital out-of-home advertising networks across retail, entertainment, mobility, and public transit environments [Ara Labs job listing, May 2025].

From Snacks to Screens

The pivot narrative is a classic startup reinvention story, but the operational shift was profound. Cargo dealt with physical SKUs and passenger micro-transactions. Ara Labs had to become a hardware company. It now specializes in the design, manufacturing, deployment, and maintenance of digital advertising displays [Crunchbase]. Its wedge is handling the entire stack: sourcing hardware and software, building the content-management system, and integrating with advertising platforms so brands and agencies can buy this mobile inventory as easily as a digital ad [FundedIQ, July 2026]. It’s a bet on complexity as a moat; convincing a brand to run a campaign is one thing, but physically installing and managing thousands of ruggedized screens on moving vehicles is another.

The early traction came from mobility. A partnership with Uber was instrumental in scaling the car-top business post-pivot [Axios, January 2023]. The company now claims to operate the largest US rideshare and taxi-top digital video display network [LBBOnline]. But the ambition stretches beyond the curb. Job listings and reports outline a broader footprint across what the industry calls “place-based” media:

• Retail Media. Building in-store digital signage networks for retailers, turning aisles into targeted ad channels [The Retail Refresh, August 2023].
• EV Infrastructure. Partnering with firms like Destination Media and ChargePoint to own and operate displays at EV charging stations, with an initial goal of 1,000 screens in top markets [LBBOnline].
• Transit & Entertainment. Deploying networks in public transit and entertainment venues, though specific deployments are less detailed in public reports.

The Hardware Hustle

This expansion is capital intensive, a fact reflected in the company’s fundraising history. Ara Labs has raised a total of at least $33.45 million across several rounds, with backing from notable firms like Founders Fund, Coatue Management, and iHeartMedia [Axios, January 2023][Tracxn][Ara Labs job listing, May 2025]. In 2023, the company was reportedly seeking an additional $50 million to fund its expansion into EV charger displays, though it’s unclear if that round closed [Axios, September 2023]. The investor list suggests confidence not just in an ad-tech software play, but in a company willing to get its hands dirty with physical deployment.

The founding team brings a blend of commerce and design to this physical-digital hybrid. CEO Jeffrey Cripe’s background includes roles at Birchbox and Christie’s, grounding him in consumer brands and high-touch experiences [F6S]. Co-founder Jasper Wheeler is an industrial designer, whose expertise is literally etched into the form factor of the screens themselves [F6S]. It’s a team built to think about the product as an object in the world, not just a layer in a cloud dashboard.

Publicly listed customers and partners hint at the network’s scale and diversity, including mall operator Mall of America, out-of-home network GSTV, and EV charging leader ChargePoint [Ara Labs job listing, May 2025].

2017 Seed | 5.5 | M USD
2018 Series A | 22.5 | M USD
2019 Series A | 5.45 | M USD

The Risks on the Road

For all its momentum, Ara Labs’ bet faces clear counterpressures. The model is asset-heavy, requiring continual capital for hardware rollouts and maintenance. Relying on partnerships with platforms like Uber introduces a layer of dependency; a change in policy or a decision to bring advertising in-house could alter the landscape overnight. Furthermore, the out-of-home advertising market, while growing, is fragmented and competitive, though no direct competitors are named in available sources.

The company’s answer appears to be diversification. By expanding into retail, transit, and EV chargers, it aims to reduce reliance on any single channel or partner. The EV charger play, in particular, aligns with a broader infrastructure build-out, offering a potential long-term footprint as the number of charging stations multiplies.

What the Screens Are Asking

The cultural question Ara Labs is implicitly answering is about the value of ambient attention in an age of personalized feeds. Its product argues that there is still immense worth in a broadcast medium, especially one that is unignorable, location-aware, and integrated into the physical journey of a consumer. It’s not asking for a click or a swipe; it’s asking for a glance from someone who is already in a commercial mindset,between points A and B, in a store, waiting for a car to charge. In a digital ecosystem obsessed with granular intent, Ara Labs is making a case for the power of context. The success of that case will be measured not in impressions, but in how many more surfaces in our shared environment begin to glow with that clean, sans-serif type.

Sources

1. [Axios, January 2023] Ara Labs, formerly Cargo, to raise funding to grow display network | https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2023/01/26/ara-labs-funding
2. [Ara Labs job listing, May 2025] Sales Team Lead | https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/sales-team-lead-at-ara-labs-inc-4330684254
3. [Crunchbase] Ara Labs - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ara-labs-3619
4. [FundedIQ, July 2026] FundedIQ, July 2026 | https://fundediq.co/ara-labs-arascreens-com-funding/
5. [LBBOnline] LBBOnline article on Ara Labs | https://www.lbbonline.com/news/ara-labs
6. [The Retail Refresh, August 2023] Ep 005: Jeffrey Cripe (Ara Labs) on elevating the brick | https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ep-005-jeffrey-cripe-ara-labs-on-elevating-the-brick/id1692822457?i=1000623924305&l=fr-CA
7. [Tracxn] Ara Labs - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors | https://tracxn.com/d/companies/ara-labs/__A7d3uykKS7RmlQC_gRyE2ow_CGGn5hTBlwYChWT-fYw
8. [Axios, September 2023] Ara Labs raising $50M, could be acquired | https://www.axios.com/pro/retail-deals/2023/09/26/ara-labs-raising-50m-debt-equity-display-advertising-acquired
9. [F6S] F6S company profile for Cargo/Ara Labs | https://www.f6s.com/company/cargonyc