CARDINE NJERI FROM TAXIFY SHOWS TAXI DRIVERS HOW TO OPERATE THE APP. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NMG
Summary
- The company, which has operations in South Africa and Kenya, will use the investment to further develop its ride-hailing technology and continue working on best ways to move in cities, particularly in Europe and Africa.
- The investment round was led by global automotive leader Daimler that counts several European mobility and technology companies amongst its portfolio.
- Daimler will also join the board of Taxify.
European ride-hailing company, Taxify, announced it had
completed an investment round of $175 million (about Sh17.8 billion) for
its African operations.
The company, which has
operations in South Africa and Kenya, will use the investment to further
develop its ride-hailing technology and continue working on best ways
to move in cities, particularly in Europe and Africa.
The
investment round was led by global automotive leader Daimler that
counts several European mobility and technology companies amongst its
portfolio. Daimler will also join the board of Taxify.
European
venture capital fund Korelya Capital and TransferWise co-founder Taavet
Hinrikus joined existing investors including Didi Chuxing in a round
that brings Taxify’s valuation to $1 billion (about Sh101.6 billion).
Gareth Taylor, South Africa country manager for Taxify said:
“This investment is exciting for Taxify in South Africa as it will
provide additional momentum to expand the platform’s availability to
drivers and riders in more cities, apart from Johannesburg, Cape Town,
Port Elizabeth and Durban where it is already in use.”’
“Taxify
has grown exponentially since it launched in South Africa in 2016, with
over 100-million kms travelled to date, and our overall growth in 2017
was eight-times that of the previous year,” continued Taylor.
Taxify
launched in 2013 in Estonia with the then 19-year-old Markus Villig
borrowing college money from his parents to build the first version and
personally recruiting first drivers to the platform.
Today,
Taxify is one of the fastest-growing ride-hailing companies in the
world with over 10 million passengers and 500,000 drivers in more than
25 countries.
Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder, Taxify
said: “We’re on a mission to build the future of mobility, and it’s
great to have the support of investors like Daimler and Didi. The number
of rides on Taxify grew by ten times last year, even considering that
our home markets Europe and Africa are some of the most complex markets
for ride-hailing in the world.
Today, more than ten
million people globally use Taxify. But this is just the beginning as
more and more people give up on car ownership and opt for on-demand
transportation.”
No comments :
Post a Comment