Cash rolls in for taxi apps as competition heats up

Three apps allow Sydneysiders to hail a cab. Credit: [[xref:http://www.flickr.com/photos/thienzieyung/|thienzieyung]] / Creative Commons

The disruptive mobile cab booking app industry continues to win funding amid opposition by incumbent taxi dispatchers.

Australian startup Ingogo announced today that it has has raised another $1 million to fund its cab booking mobile app, bringing its total funding to $3.7 million. Pacific Venture Advisors from Silicon Valley led the investment.

Ingogo, which launched in 2011 and has relationships with about 15 per cent of Sydney’s taxi drivers, said it will use the funding to launch the app into new markets across Australia and internationally, including the United States.

Last week, Uber—a leading cab booking app in the US that has recently entered Australia—closed a $258 million financing round with most of the funding coming from Google Ventures and TPG Capital.

In a blog post, Uber founder Travis Kalanick noted that Google provides several “complementary” products to Uber, including Maps, Android and self-driving vehicles.

“We look to Google and Google Ventures for the strategic connectivity to their product initiatives alongside the expertise that comes with evangelizing new technology with governments and regulatory bodies around the world,” he wrote.

GoCatch, a third taxi-hailing startup based in Sydney, last week announced partnerships with BlackBerry and American Express as part of a play for corporate travellers.

Taxi booking apps have met with resistance from Cabcharge and the taxi industry since it eliminates the need for dispatchers.

Uber has claimed to be the cheapest of the taxi apps available because it does not charge a credit card transaction fee on top of the standard taxi rate.

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