Taxify, the Estonian ride-hailing start-up, has closed a new funding round worth 175 million US dollars, taking the company’s valuation past 1 billion US dollars and creating a new emerging European unicorn. The company has said that it plans to use the new capital to develop its technology and further expand operations in Europe and Africa.
The funding round was led by Daimler, the German automotive giant which owns Mercedes-Benz, which has taken a 10 per cent stake in the Taxify. The investment also featured participation from Korelya Capital and Taavet Hinrikus, the founder of another Estonian unicorn, the FinTech start-up TransferWise.
Taxify, founded in 2013, currently operates in 40 cities across Africa and Europe.
“Among all of the carmakers, we saw Daimler as the most progressive in both ride-sharing and autonomous cars,” said Markus Villig, Taxify’s founder.
In recent times, car manufacturers have been investing in cab-hailing platforms as a way of expanding investments in the transport sector. In November, Volvo signed a 1.4 billion US dollar deal with Uber to sell 24,000 sports utility vehicles to the platform for use in its self-driving fleets.
“Taxify is an ideal addition to our existing and extensive mobility services portfolio,” said Jorg Lamparter, head of new services at Daimler. “With its fast-growing ride-hailing activities and extensive geographical coverage, Taxify is a perfect fit with Daimler.”
Taxify, founded in 2013, currently operates in 40 cities across Africa and Europe.
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