Brazil-based taxi booking startup EasyTaxi, backed by German incubator Rocket Internet, has raised an additional $10 million worth of funding to expand further in Asia, as well as Africa and the Middle East, starting with Nigeria today.
This round of funding comes from Rocket Internet and African Internet Holding. Just last month, the startup also received $15 million from Latin America Internet Holding for its global expansion.
Dennis Wang, who is in charge of Easy Taxi’s international expansion, says the app has over 1.5 milion downloads and more than 45,000 taxi drivers in the network, and that Easy Taxi sees huge potential in many Asian and African countries.
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Sacha Poignonnec, co-CEO of African Internet Holding, says that Easy Taxi will be launched in more African countries in the upcoming weeks. The company is currently active in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, South Korea and Venezuela.
Easy Taxi, which allows users to confirm their pickup point and order a cab with the press of a button, is now facing competition from other similar startups which are moving into Asia including Uber, which aims to differentiate itself as a quality, private hire service, rather than a direct taxi replacement.
Uber, which has raised more than $55 million in funding from investors, landed in Singapore in January, followed by Seoul, South Korea, and then Taipei, Taiwan in late June.
Image Credit: Vanderlei Almeida via AFP/Getty Images
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