Mobility/Transport/News/ European taxi startups revel in Uber’s London-licence blow Europe's on-demand taxi startups like Bolt are loving the news this morning that Uber has lost its London taxi licence. By Michael Stothard 25 November 2019 Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber \Startup Life Meet the startups in Y Combinator's latest intake By Connor Bilboe 7 March 2022 Mobility/Transport/News/ European taxi startups revel in Uber’s London-licence blow Europe's on-demand taxi startups like Bolt are loving the news this morning that Uber has lost its London taxi licence. By Michael Stothard 25 November 2019 Europe’s on-demand taxi startups are loving the news that Uber has lost its London taxi licence after local regulators said it had identified a “pattern of failures” at the US company that put passengers’ safety at risk. Martin Villig, a cofounder of Bolt, the Estonian ride-hailing company formerly known as Taxify, responded to the news with a tweet saying: “Boom, again! #Uber #London license not extended. Look out for fair alternatives, like @BoltApp” In an emailed statement, the Bolt press office sought to rub more salt into the wound: “We spent a year working with TfL on our successful London licence application and we continue to pay the utmost attention to the credentials of drivers we permit to use our platform… Recent events highlight the critical importance to public safety of not just checking but knowing who those drivers are and taking a deep interest in their overall wellbeing.” Bolt has been making a concerted effort to take on Uber in the London market this year, boasting that 300,000 Londoners have signed up to its platform in just three months since its summer launch. It has also seen around 50,000 drivers join a waiting list to work on its platform. These efforts will be boosted by an announcement on Monday that London’s regulator, Transport for London, had declined to renew Uber’s licence. TfL said it had found unauthorized drivers using the accounts of real, approved Uber drivers and picking up passengers using vehicles they weren’t registered to drive. The regulator said these fraudulent drivers had conducted 14,000 trips. “It is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured,” said Helen Chapman, the director of licensing, regulation and charging at TfL on Monday. Uber has 21 days to appeal, and will be able to continue running its service in the meantime. The blow to Uber will be a shot in the arm to Bolt, as well as other European startups competing in the on-demand transport sector such as Kapten, Xooox, Wheely and ViaVan. Kapten, a French startup backed by Daimler and BMW, is in a particularly good position having launched in London in May this year. Henry Joseph-Grant, the chief commercial officer at Talixo, a transportation startup focused on the business market said: “Ouch Uber… At Talixo we only work with fully vetted, registered, licensed and insured fleets in 1000+ cities, we have never had any safety issues. Prevention is the best cure.” Mark Tluszcz, CEO of VC firm Mangrove Capital Partners, on Monday said: “Uber pushes the narrative that consumers rely on its service and any action by regulators will be deeply unpopular…. [But] the fact is that there are many other taxi apps that would happily — and very quickly — soak up their business and keep London moving.” In an interview with Sifted earlier this month, Bolt chief executive Markus Villig said that he was taking on Uber across the continent by aggressively undercutting it on price and learning from Uber’s many, many mistakes. Namely burning cash unnecessarily, which Villig says he determined not to do. “If you start off having access to $20bn and you think this is a winner-takes-all industry and everybody’s telling you the only thing that matters is top-line growth then that results in a very specific culture of just spending very lavishly where you might not need it,” he said. An earlier version of this article said that Martin Villig was the chief executive of Bolt. Martin is, in fact, a cofounder. His brother Markus Villig is chief executive. Related Articles After the Suez Canal blockage, Zencargo raises £30m to help build resilient supply chains By Freya Pratty Click here to read more What will our daily commutes look like, post-Covid? We asked the experts In partnership with GoTo Global Click here to read more From Voi to Circ, we compare Europe’s scooter startups By Amy Lewin Click here to read more A German startup has bought a chunk of Uber By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Consumer Building a billion dollar business by fixing clothes 2 \Startup Life What’s it like being a startup founder over 40? 3 Member \Venture Capital The 10 fastest growing Estonian startups in the past 12 months 4 \Startup Life Startups now have another alternative to VC: growth through debt 5 \Startup Life Ravio hopes its transparent salary data can solve your hiring woes 1 Join the conversation Subscribe newest oldest Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments JenniferThere is a great market scope for ride-hailing in UK and keeping out Uber, the new startups and the current ones have a better chance at capturing the market. There are ready-made solutions like Uber clone are available in the market. It can help the entrepreneurs to startup such a taxi app in a short span of time. Know more, http://bit.ly/2XmrHXi
After the Suez Canal blockage, Zencargo raises £30m to help build resilient supply chains By Freya Pratty Click here to read more
What will our daily commutes look like, post-Covid? We asked the experts In partnership with GoTo Global Click here to read more