Uber Technologies readies its pitch as the Amazon of transportation

Uber Technologies Inc. and its bankers will hit the road this month with one big name on their lips as they try to entice investors with favorable comparisons to businesses that it seeks to imitate or surpass.

Amazon was a money-losing internet bookseller attacking the brick-and-mortar fortress of Barnes & Noble Inc. at the dawn of e-commerce when it raised $54 million in its 1997 initial public offering. Its ascent to world’s biggest online retailer — the everything store — is seen as a model by Uber as it pivots from its maturing but still unprofitable ride-hailing operation to position itself as a global transportation platform.

Uber wants to convince investors that it’s a transportation and logistics market-maker that can build — and then supply — new demand for everything from scooters and bicycles to freight and food delivery, said people familiar with its plans who asked not to be identified because they’re private.