INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The vision of a universal global ride-hailing service is over
Uber decision to exit markets like China, Southeast Asia and Russia coupled with the failure of its rivalsto develop a proposed roaming
system, means that global travelers must install multiple apps if they are to take advantage of on-demand taxis
That unless a little-known startup can turn a bold plan into reality.
In the world of ride-hailing and its billion-dollar investment checks,
an $8 million capital raise may not be a big deal but it does represent a coming-out for Splyt, a UK-based startup that is aiming to help
make global ride-hailing roaming a reality — and not just within ride-hailing apps.
The four-year-old company announced this week that it
closed an $8 million Series A round from a range of undisclosed (and existing) family offices and angel investors
In addition, the round included participation from Southeast Asian ride-hailing company Grab, the firm valued at $14 billion which acquired
Uber regional business last year.
The deal will see Grab become a Splyt partner and it comes hot-on-the-heels of a similar rollout with
Alipay, the digital wallet app run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial.
In both cases, Splyt is hooking Alipay and Grab up to its
ride-hailing networks to allow users to book (and take) a taxi from another provider within the Alipay or Grab app.
Splyt allows users of
Alipay to book taxis on the Grab network in Southeast Asia without downloading Grab app
The integration is already live within Alipay for
Southeast Asia — Grab is scheduled to work overseas from early 2020 — and it means that users can book and manage rides directly from
the payment app thanks to Splyt system
In other words, Alipay users can take rides through Grab without having to download the Grab app.
Splyt is not visible to the consumer eye
Instead, it lurks behind the scenes acting as the interconnecting services
In that respect, it is much like digital banking services that provide the infrastructure that enables banks to offer digital services
In Splyt case, it provides connections for ride-hailing services outside of their markets, but beyond them it allows other apps to access
ride-hailing booking features, too.
Relationships are the key part of this offering, beyond Grab and Alipay, Splyt has partnerships with
Chinese travel app Ctrip, Careem — the Middle East-based service being acquired by Uber — Gett and car rental service Cartrawler, which
added ride-hailing via the tie-up.
&There a long way to go to get comfortable with where we are and how close we are to our vision,& Splyt
CEO Philipp Mintchin said, admitting that the goal is for all major ride-hailing firms to join.
That said, the existing partner base already
gives Splyt reach into some 2,000 cities
The deal with Grab, in particular, will help allow Alipay and Ctrip — two popular services — to open up ride-hailing in Southeast Asia,
a region that is an increasingly popular travel destination for Chinese tourists.
Indeed, such is the focus on Asia at this point that Splyt
has opened an office in Singapore
Mintchin told TechCrunch that he expects headcount in Singapore will reach 15 this year, mostly on the tech side, while overall the company
is predicted to grow to 50 people by the end of this year.
&Most of our business and partners are based out of Asia,& he added of the new
office.
The Splyt Team at the company office in London
While connecting ride-hailing services and popular apps makes absolute sense for
consumers who can enjoy the convenience of roaming, navigating and securing partnerships is not straightforward in today ride-hailing world
Aside from a network of complicated relationships — Uber and Didi, in particular, are investors in many competing services and each other
— many companies are also developing new features behind simply taxis.
Mintchin declined to discuss potential deals but he did tease that
Splyt is working to onboard a number of new partners this year.
&In this industry, everyone is talking to everyone,& he said of the
partnership push.
Mintchin admitted that the &politics of the ride-hailing industry& mean that some companies refuse to work with others —
no names named, alas — and others prefer to work with specific firms, too
Then there also an element of trust involved with giving a third party access to a service which ends up being used by yet another third
party.
&We are here to partner and benefit each other rather than to try to steal a fleet and run our own app,& he said of Splyt neutral
position and its role as the behind-the-scenes integrator
&We arenot all of a sudden going to influence the partners we work with… thepartners make decisions.&
It a patient game, but already Splyt
is seeing growth double on a weekly basis since May
In some areas, Mintchin said that the service is seeing a 90 percent repeat use through its partners
Going forward, he added, the Series A funding will go towards closing those supply gaps to make the service more usable in more
locations.
It an audacious vision but, given the balkanization of the industry in recent years, it remains the best hope that travelers have
of delivering on the vision of using their favorite ride-hailing app anywhere in the world.
