Taxify is the new taxi riding mobile application which is giving stiff competition to Uber, particularly in European and African markets. It was founded in 2013 by brothers Markus and Martin Vikings and their friend Oliver Leisalu. The idea came to Martin in 2012 when he noticed locals in Ukraine using mobile applications to hire taxis. He realized that similar service was non-existent in Estonia and Latvia and he along with other founders founded Taxify. Since its inception in 2013, Taxify has been rapidly expanding to new markets and gaining market share.
Coverage and financials
Taxify is working across more than 32 countries. It is a leading taxi booking application in Eastern Europe with more than 500,000 users and offering in excess of a million rides to them in 2015. It is growing at an exponential pace estimated to be in excess of 10% per month. It is covering more than 57 cities across Europe and Africa and has approximately 15 million users globally. It has been giving a tough time to Uber in most of the markets it is operational in. It has made difficult for Uber to expand aggressively in the European and African markets. Taxify is the leading player in 11 of the markets it operates in which reflects its growing popularity and success.
Bolt (Taxify) becomes a big player
Though Taxify does not discloses its financials completely, but it is estimated that its revenues increased six folds to about $20.5 million in 2017. Initially, it was funded by the seed capital of its founders. They raised about €1.4 million in their initial seed round of capital investments. It is also backed by the Chinese conglomerate Didi Chuxing. Taxify was able to raise $175 million in funding round from German automotive leader Daimler, which took its total valuation to $1 billion. Taxify plans to expand its African business by at least 10 times in the next two years.
Bolt (Taxify) working Model
Uber uses independent drivers as its service provider while Taxify has entered into contracts with local taxi services. In 2016, 80% of its drivers were taxi operators and the remaining 20% were independent drivers. The advantage of this association with local taxi services has helped it to keep union and other labor-related problems under control. You can download the Taxify app and use it for booking your rides. It helps to connect you with the best local drivers at most competitive prices. You can link your credit card to the mobile application and the fare will be charged automatically to your credit card, removing the problem to carry cash.
Commission in Bolt (Taxify)
Taxify charges only 15-20% commission from its drivers which is nearly half of what Uber and other similar services charge. The lower commission allows it to offer lower priced taxi rides to you and also ensure that the drivers take more money back home. It also offers business services where users can get a monthly bill with their ride details. The corporate clients get access to a control panel from which they can track their usage and control which staff can use the business-payment method.