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Global startup Easy Taxi bags $40-million in funding
Transport app, Easy Taxi, has secured US$40-million led by the Russian Phenomen Ventures and German Tengelmann Ventures. Backed by Rocket Internet, the startup operates in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia and is often dubbed the world’s farthest-reaching taxi app.
Dennis Wang, co-CEO at Easy Taxi says the new round of Series D funding will be used to help scale operations in existing markets. He explains:
“We are very proud to have secured this new round of funding, which will allow us to continue our growth trajectory in existing markets, advance our technology, scale our operations and improve our service towards more audiences and geographies. In particular, the expertise of our new investors aligns with our ambition to further increase our market share in Asia and consolidate our leadership in Latin America.”
The company notes that there’s a new app in the pipeline which will bring substantial improvements in feature set, address recognition and usability. Currently, the app is available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Commuters confirm their pickup point and order a cab with the press of a button, after which the driver will be displayed on a map in real-time.
In the last year, Easy Taxi has shown impressive expansion and has launched its service in certain African countries as well as the Middle East. Co-CEO Tallis Gomes says that it has also scooped up over 150 000 drivers, which brings its total up to 185 000.
“We complete millions of rides per month across 160+ cities in 30+ countries worldwide, and the additional funding will enable us to continue working towards our mission of making the traditional taxi industry function in a much more convenient and safe way than it ever has,” Gomes says.
Phenomen Ventures has its fingers in many pies, having a history of backing DeliveryHero, Foodpanda, Dafiti, Onetwotrip, Hailo, Hellofresh, and Weebly. Tengelmann Ventures is an arm of German operating retail company Tengelmann Group.
