After years of impressive growth, Uber has been showing signs of weakness and had to give up on some markets. Maybe Uber isn’t going to be the market leader in every country. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Taxify and Via Transportation co-founders and CEOs are going to talk about challenging Uber at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.
Markus Villig started working on Taxify years ago. But things started to take off quite dramatically in the past twelve months. The company now works with hundreds of thousands of drivers to serve millions of customers.
Taxify now operates in 25 European and African countries and is carefully avoiding the U.S. That strategy could pay off.
Via is interesting for another reason. As Daniel Ramot will tell you, Via is attacking the ride-sharing market from a different angle. You might remember that Uber (UberCab back then) started with a luxurious on-demand experience. Ordering a private driver would cost you twice as much as jumping in a taxi.
Via thinks that shared rides and fixed costs are more important than luxury. Ordering a ride on Via costs a bit more than a bus ticket, but is a lot more flexible than public transportation. You will share the ride with other Via users. It’s a good solution for under-deserved areas and poorly planned cities.
Buy your ticket to Disrupt Berlin to listen to this discussion and many others. The conference will take place on November 29-30.
In addition to fireside chats and panels, like this one, new startups will participate in the Startup Battlefield Europe to win the highly coveted Battlefield cup.
