You might have seen our post on the Washington D.C.-based RideScout app last December when it hit the 10,000 download mark. The transportation app, which aggregates public and private transit options (including Metro, Car2Go, Capital Bikeshare, and Hailo), was just acquired by Car2Go North America after three years of business, according to a RideScout press release and email announcement this morning.
The RideScout application was launched in November 2013 by CEO Joseph Kopser and his co-founder Craig Cummings.
“We launched the app November of 2013, I thought that day might be the best of our company’s history, but it was only the start of things to come. We continued to build a superstar team and, subsequently, we launched RideScout in 69 North American cities,” wrote Kopser in the announcement.
No figures will be released on Car2Go’s (a Daimler company) private acquisition, but Kopser and Cummings will continue to run the business as a subsidiary of the company in Car2Go’s Austin, Texas headquarters. Daimler’s move seems like a smart one with the ever-increasing numbers of commuter transit options in urban cities. With Car2Go already being mapped with RideScout’s application, its ownership over directing commuters to the most convenient and inexpensive route home could be used in the company’s favor.
This announcement comes two years after Daimler’s investment in Uber competitor, MyTaxi, which allows smartphone taxi hailing. Seeing Uber’s valuation rumoring at over $18 billion, it’s easy to point out that Daimler is attempting to get its own piece of the urban ride-sharing pie. Uber has also offered low interest rates on vehicles for drivers to join its company, and speculation could see Daimler doing the same for its own MyTaxi drivers. While this is a far cry from RidesScout’s purpose as a mapping tool, Daimler may be able to leverage MyTaxi and Car2Go for a bigger market share of urban commuter transit services by literally putting more of its icons on RideScout’s map.
Have you tried RideScout or Car2Go? Let us know what you think of the announcement in the comments.
Check the full press release below:
AUSTIN, TEXAS and STUTTGART, GERMANY (September 3rd, 2014) – moovel GmbH announced today that car2go North America LLC, a brand of moovel, has acquired RideScout LLC, the leading app-based mobility platform in North America, dedicated to allowing users to search and compare ground transportation options on demand. In addition, moovel GmbH announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Intelligent Apps GmbH (“mytaxi”), a global and fully automated, app-based taxi booking service. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed, and the transactions were completed on September 2nd, 2014 and August 29th, respectively.
The transactions will bring car2go North America and moovel GmbH two of the most expansive and uniquely positioned tech companies in today’s urban mobility space.
“We are very pleased to welcome RideScout and mytaxi as new members of the moovel family”, reports Robert Henrich, CEO at moovel GmbH. “The acquisition of RideScout and Intelligent Apps pushes our global strategy a significant step forward. We are investing further in the development and growth of urban mobility in North America, Germany and other parts of the world. Our mutual objectives are the expansion of our leadership role on the international market and to continue our pioneering efforts to radically simplify the future of mobility.”
RideScout is managed by Joseph Kopser and Craig Cummings, who founded the company in 2011. Offering more than 300 mobility providers for users to choose from a one-stop mobile application, RideScout is available in 69 cities in North America. Following the acquisition, RideScout will operate as a subsidiary of car2go North America and will continue to operate out of the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. Joseph Kopser and Craig Cummings, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, will continue to manage the business.
“Robert Henrich and I share a vision for a better future in mobility for all – one where people travel from place to place seamlessly, rethinking the definition of car ownership. I am thrilled that RideScout is working with car2go to expand this vision,” said Joseph Kopser, Co-Founder and CEO of RideScout. “Our partnership enables us to build a better product for our users and our customers, helping people make better transportation decisions in an emerging transportation marketplace and improving quality of life for all.”
With the acquisition of Intelligent Apps GmbH, moovel GmbH plans to accelerate the international expansion of the taxi booking app and intensify collaborative product development.
Launched in 2009, mytaxi is the world’s first app to enable direct connections between taxi users and taxi drivers. With a global volume of more than ten million downloads, mytaxi is the front runner in the field of taxi booking apps. At the beginning of 2012, then under the name of car2go Deutschland GmbH, moovel GmbH acquired a holding in mytaxi.
“With moovel, a pioneer in the field of innovative mobility services, we now have the ideal partner for mytaxi and our team. We share the same visions and a burning passion for the issues of new and advanced mobility concepts”, explains Niclaus Mewes, CEO at mytaxi. “With moovel behind us, we are now an enormous step closer to realize our vision of becoming the biggest and best taxi app – not only in Europe, but around the world.”
About car2go North America LLC
car2go North America LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation and a brand of moovel GmbH, offers an innovative mobility solution in rapidly growing urban areas via a carsharing network of eco-friendly smart fortwo vehicles around the world. A flexible and “on demand” mode of transportation, car2go complements existing public transportation by bridging the gaps between the “first and last mile” of a member’s commute. Today, car2go is the largest, fastest-growing carsharing program in the world with more than 850,000 registered members in 26 cities across the globe.
The innovation and environmental sustainability of car2go have earned international acclaim, including “Best Carshare” from the Vancouver Courier, “2014 Best CarSharing App” from Best of D.C., recognition from the Austin Chamber of Commerce with the “Greater Austin Business Award” for its environmental responsibility and sustainability, and the prestigious “2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award” from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Further information on car2go is available at car2go.com and media.daimler.com/ms/car2go/e.
Source: RideScout