Who would have thought the battle for electric scooter dominance could become so heated? Taxify, that’s who.
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The Estonian taxi dispatcher management programme Taxify – on which inventures.eu has already reported once – secured 100.000 dollars (approximately 70.000 euros) worth of investment from several business angels. With the funding, the team wants to support its sales efforts and target new markets in Europe and the United States.
The almost one-and-a-half-year-old enterprise received fresh capital through Märt Kelder, Martin Villig and Andrus Purde, Toomas Bergmann (co-founder of fleet tracking platform Navirec) and Finnish entrepreneur Mikko Silventola, founder Markus Villig told inventures.eu. “We talked to about ten potential investors,” he said, “and all were interested, so we got to choose the ones with the best know-how and match for us.”
The funds will mainly be put into strengthening the sales team and will also be used for financing marketing efforts in other European countries and the United States, where the Estonian startup wants to expand to in the near future, according to Villig. Before the recent angel investment, the venture was financed by about 10.000 euros from the founder’s family and a small grant from Enterprise Estonia.
Not at the end of the road yet
Taxify does not only rely on a B2C approach with its app where users can check the position of the nearest taxi but also a B2B strategy: they provide a backend system for taxi companies with a driver dispatch management, a fleet management system and analytical tools, with the whole software being browser-based.
Currently, the app has been downloaded about 40.000 times and, according Taxify’s CEO, some 10.000 active users and 1.000 signed up drivers are part of it. Drivers can also use the smartphone app to connect with potential customers. The respective taxi company pays a monthly fee for each driver they have registered and Taxify gets a small commission for every booking through the app, which is basically the core of the business model.
At the moment, Taxify’s revenues reach about 10.000 euros per month but since the company is expanding, it has still a long way to the profit zone: “We are rapidly hiring, so we are not profitable at the moment,” Villig said.
The next goal for Taxify is to launch the service in five Eastern European and American cities, but there is more on the finance side: “Then, we want to raise another 1.5 million euros round to push marketing,” Villig announced their plans for the future and added that “we want to grow by at least 300 percent this year”.
Eva Thalhammer contributed to this article
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Ever found yourself standing by the side of the road, frantically waving at cars passing by, desperately clinging to the hope that one vehicle with the sign “taxi” would finally stop and take you home? We’ve all been there: Finding a cab – be in it in your hometown or abroad – can be a huge hassle. Especially if you can’t for the life of you remember a phone number of a taxi company. But do not despair, for we have found several taxi apps that will help you find and order cabs all over the CEE region with just a few clicks! Have we missed anyone? Let us know!
Austria
TaxiMaps
With a database of more than 500 licensed taxi companies in Austria, this app ensures that passengers have all the contact details they need to find a cab anywhere in Austria. In specific regions and for selected partners, ordering a taxi with just a few clicks is possible. Additional information regarding the number of passengers, luggage, and child seats can be included in this app, available for iPhone and Android.
Belarus
Taxistartup
With its cloud-based services for taxi and bus companies, the Belarusian startup offers a package of apps that allows passengers to easily call a cab (or even limousine!) and choose a driver based on user ratings. Taxistartup is currently working on ways to allow customers to pay via the app with a pre-saved credit card.
Bulgaria
Taxime
The Bulgarian startup not only offers reliable service to make sure passengers find the nearest taxi, it also allows users to travel with selected drivers and to rate their services. The need for Taxime has been justified: Last fall, the two co-founders received 25.000 euros in funding from Sofia-based Eleven to further develop the app.
TaxiStars
Uniting car fleets, booking services, dispatching centres, payments, and other services under a common umbrella, the Bulgarian startup describes itself as the world’s first open network for taxi apps and taxi companies. TaxiStars offers its members digital bookings, mobile payments, and quality ratings.
Czech Republic
TaxiAgent
The Czech taxi app offers a complete taxi booking system including a mobile app, a web app, and a public kiosk app. Having taken the Czech market by storm, TaxiAgent is now looking to expand to the entire CEE region.
upTAXI
Promising “lightning fast taxi ordering,” the Czech startup makes sure you get from A to B, either by using the upTAXI smartphone app, sending a quick text or making a call. Passengers can select a car, choose their favourite driver, and rate the service. upTAXI is available for iPhone and Android, with Blackberry and WP native apps coming soon.
Estonia
Taxify
With just two clicks, this smartphone app allows users to order a taxi without even making a phone call. Having recently launched Taxify in Latvia, the Estonian startup founded in 2013 is now making plans to conquer the US market with their web-based dispatch software for cab companies.
Offering a free taxicab directory and ordering service that covers the EU, US and Canada (all in all, more than 2.800 cities are serviced by TaxiPal), the Estonian startup is also the first multi-language app of its kind. Available on all popular device platforms, TaxiPal allows passengers to save their preferred taxi companies and to place direct orders via the app.
Hungary
TaxiLike
With more than 400 taxi companies registered in TaxiLike’s database, the taxi booking service of this Hungarian startup makes it easier for passengers to order taxis all over the country. Valuable feedback is provided for future passengers via the rating function. TaxiLike is available as a passenger app on iOS and Android) and as a driver app on Android.
Poland
Taxi5
Founded in 2012 and based in Wroclaw and Krakow, this app allows passenger to conveniently order taxis. Instead of working with taxi drivers, Taxi5 cooperates with taxi companies, thus ensuring a large number of drivers are available. Taxi5 is available on iOS and Android platforms.
iTaxi
With this mobile app, users in the Polish cities of Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, and Gdynia can find thetaxis closest to them. Selecting the preferred company and car from the app’s database and tracking the car’s movements are just some of the options offered by iTaxi.
Romania
Clever Taxi
With more than 4,5 million processed orders all over the country, CleverTaxi has taken the Romanian market by storm. Before ordering a taxi, passengers can choose preferred companies and tariffs, and it also claims to be the only taxi app that works on all mobile operating systems.
Slovakia
HOPIN Taxi
HOPIN Taxi, the first of its kind in Slovakia, operates on iOS and Android, and allows passengers to place taxi orders without even making a phone call. Besides the order function, the app offers several features, like a price calculator, rating, as well as tracking options, and different search filters. Hop on that cab, now!
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