Hailo, a London-based mobile taxi booking service, announced earlier this week that it secured a $30.6 million investment, making it “the largest and best-capitalized taxi app network in the world with over $50 million raised.”
New York-based Union Square Ventures (USV), Russia’s Phenomen, Japan’s KDDI, and Sir Richard Branson are joining existing investors Accel, Atomico and Wellington. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Already operating in eight cities, from London to Toronto and Tokyo, Hailo is aiming to become a global platform for regulated taxi service.
“For more than a year, we have watched the Hailo management team roll out their service,” recalled John Buttrick of USV, which has led the round. “The team first launched the app in London in the fall of 2011 and were the seventh or eighth app in this market. By the end of 2012 they were the dominant app, with half of London’s 23,000 London black cab signed up for the service and consumers downloading the app at strong month over month growth rates despite minimal marketing. Similar trends are evident in the next two markets the company entered, Dublin and Toronto.”
Phenomen Ventures contributed $7 million to the round. The fund was founded in April of last year by Dmitry Falkovich, a tech investment veteran who took part in the development of the Mail.ru Group with Yuri Milner. Among its portfolio companies is Onetwotrip, a fast growing Russian online air ticket booking site.
Phenomen has now secured $300 million in commitments, up from $50 million initially, Falkovich told East-West Digital News.
Another taxi booking service, Israel-based Get Taxi, has been funded by Russian-American businessman Leonard Blavatnik along with other international investors.
