Cooperation between car2go and Intelligent Apps GmbH on "myTaxi" app

car2go, the urban mobility concept from Daimler AG, has entered into a cooperation agreement with the market leader in smartphone-based taxi booking services, the Hamburg-based Intelligent Apps GmbH. The arrangement brings together two young companies, each of which has successfully brought to market a pioneering new business model.

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myTaxi app

Key to the cooperation is an investment in Intelligent Apps by car2go. Also taking a stake in Intelligent Apps GmbH, alongside the investment from Daimler subsidiary car2go, is Lars Hinrichs (Cinco Capital GmbH). Current shareholders T-Venture (the venture capital arm of Deutsche Telekom) and the KfW banking group will be increasing their existing investments. The aim of the partnership, amongst other things, is to achieve the customer-friendly integration of taxi and car2go services in future joint smartphone applications.

This new cooperation serves to underline car2go's aim of creating and further developing a network of partnership links between its mobility concept and other travel services. As Robert Henrich, Managing Director of car2go GmbH, emphasised: "City dwellers these days are used to combining different forms of transport to suit their immediate mobility requirements. Whether bus, rail, a private car, car2go or taxi – it is only by working together that we can offer a truly intermodal offering that will simplify urban mobility and improve the quality of life in our big cities. Our cooperation with myTaxi represents an important milestone along this way."

car2go and the taxi business complement each other particularly well. If you're looking for a set of wheels on the spur of the moment, you can reserve one of the blue and white city runabouts. If you prefer to be driven, are in a group of more than two people or have heavy luggage, you might prefer to call a taxi instead. For many of car2go's 60,000 registered customers around the world, this way of combining the two forms of transport, as well as using public transport, is already part of everyday life. The aim of the new cooperation is to make this modern idea of urban mobility even easier and more convenient for customers. Through its car2go subsidiary, Daimler AG is thus making a trailblazing investment into the further development of urban mobility and, in particular, of the taxi industry.

The fascinating ease with which a smartphone can be used to call a taxi is the basis for the overwhelming success of the "myTaxi" app. The world's first fully automatic taxi booking service also scores well with taxi drivers, thanks to its fair and transparent terms. Taxi drivers are only charged a small, nominal fee for journeys actually booked this way.

Enlarge   myTaxi app Total flexibility, convenience of use and payment according to actual use – in such respects the business models for car2go and myTaxi have much in common. Niclaus Mewes, Managing Director and Founder of Intelligent Apps: "More than 60 percent of all German taxis are made by Daimler. With the help of our new shareholders, we will now be able to build on our initial efforts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by going on to tackle countries such as England, Spain and the Netherlands. In this respect we shall be able to benefit from our strategic partnership with car2go GmbH and Deutsche Telekom."

The strategic cooperation encompasses various aspects of joint product development and marketing, with the aim of adding value for the customer as well as of achieving a higher level of market penetration. Customers will thus soon be able to use a new app to find and hire either a taxi or a car2go vehicle. The development of a common payment system is also planned.