Uber-competitor Karhoo has bit the dust

Earlier this morning, Uber-rival Karhoo announced that it is shutting down after the company ran out of cash.

Karhoo – which was based in New York, but had offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Singapore – has been financially struggling for a while.

It raised a $250 million round last year, but this has largely evaporated. It was also forced to shut its R&D center in Israel after the company found itself unable to pay workers wages.

In a statement, the company said:

It is with much regret that we have to announce that Karhoo has had to close its service and is now looking at the next steps for the business.

The Karhoo staff around the world in London, New York, Singapore and Tel Aviv have, over the past 18-months, worked tirelessly to make Karhoo a success. Many of them have worked unpaid for the last six weeks in an effort to get the business to a better place.

Unfortunately, by the time the new management team took control last week, it was clear that the financial situation was pretty dire, and Karhoo was not able to find a backer.

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Karhoo allowed customers to hail rides from existing taxi companies. In London, it boasted a fleet of 200,000 cars, with partners including Adderson Lee and ComCab. In New York, it had 10,000 taxis, and had partnered with Carmel.

It’s a tragic ending for a company that was seen, at one point, to be highly promising. Above all, it illustrates that it’s extremely difficult to beat Uber at its own game. Lots of companies – Lyft, Hailo, Gett – have tried. None have been successful.