Hong Kong-based taxi-booking app Taxiwise has been acquired by Ikky, a Hong Kong company that specializes in bookings, for undisclosed amount. All intellectual property, infrastructure and content were acquired and the Taxiwise founders are joining the team of Ikky this month.
Putting focus on cab reservation rather than the more popular on-demand taxi-hailing service, Taxiwise allows users to book a taxi in advance for hours, days or simply to get picked up as they scheduled and at multiple locations. To make the tour more comfortable and trustworthy, profiles of the taxi drivers are also provided.
Taxiwise targets at expats and non-Cantonese speaking taxi riders who visit Hong Kong, a hot tourism destination which welcomes tens of millions of travelers per year. The app facilitates non-Cantonese speakers to book a sightseeing tour in Hong Kong, helping them to avoid the nuisance of reading the street names or complicated transportation routes.
The company was cofounded by Jean-Marc Ly and Truong Lam at the end of 2012, and took a third founder Lawrence Tse latter. The startup was a part of the very first AcceleratorHK cohort and has secured funding in the past from James Giancotti of BigColors, Felix Lam of Red Chapel Advisors and Stephen Forte – the founder of AcceleratorHK.
IKKY is a reservation platform which enables users to book all daily activities and services such as dinner reservations, doctor’s appointments, and taxi pick-ups. Along with instant confirmation and social media sharing capabilities, the IKKY also lets users to integrate booked activities into calendar, but the platform hasn’t launched yet.
While the war between taxi-booking apps is going nuclear in domestic market, Hong Kong battlefield for the same sector is hardly less crowded. In addition to Hong Kong startups like Taxi Hero and Flytaxi, Rocket Internet’s Easy Taxi and Alibaba-backed Kuaidi Dache also landed in Hong Kong to tap the market last year.
image credit: Taxiwise
This acquisition influenced due to the competition among ride share services. There are several taxi management software being released every month and targeting cabbies to bring revenue. However those applications quite beneficial to hail taxi rather than hailing traditional cabs.