Taxi Booking App to Secure USD 8-Digit Series B Funding
Tencent Tech, 3/06/13
According to an informed source, Juhezhongxin Information Technology, the developer of Chinese mobile taxi booking application Yaoyao Zhaoche, has begun a second round of USD 8-digit funding, to be completed in March. Yaoyao Zhaoche CEO Wang Weijian confirmed the news, stating that the company was currently undergoing negotiations for a new round of funding, but declining to reveal any specific details of the discussions. The company completed a USD 7-digit round of funding in May 2012 led by Sequoia Capital.
According to Wang, the company currently provides the service to users free of change in order to expand its user base. The app has also added a setting allowing users to pay an extra fee to cab drivers in order to hail a cab more quickly. The company plans to launch the app in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in March, and will bring the service to six additional cities by the end of the year including Tianjin, Jinan, and Dalian.
Yaoyao Zhaoche was released in beta form in March 2012 and is available for both iOS and Android handsets. The company partnered with more than 40 Beijing taxi companies as a part of the app's launch in Beijing and is now being used by 20,000 Beijing taxis (25% of Beijing's total taxi base). Daily cab fares using the app have reached 5,000 and the service successfully links drivers and customers 75% of the time.
Keywords: Juhezhongxin Yaoyao Zhaoche Wang Weijian funding wireless Sequoia Capital second-round mobile application taxi booking app