INDEPENDENT NEWS

Investors backing Zoomy to disrupt NZ taxi market

Published: Fri 24 Jan 2014 01:56 PM
Prominent technology entrepreneur, Simon Clausen, is the latest investor to back the rapidly expanding Zoomy, the taxi hailing application which allows people to order, track, and now pay for their taxi – all from their smartphone.
Clausen co-founded and was CEO of PC Tools, before selling the company to Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) in 2008 in one of Australia’s largest technology acquisitions. He subsequently started his own investment company, Startive Ventures, in 2009 to invest in global technology companies, including the hugely successful Freelancer.com which debuted on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in November last year.
Clausen’s investment company, Startive Ventures, has invested into Zoomy alongside Australian entrepreneur and early Googler Chris Bayley. Last year, Zoomy received funding from a group of local investors, including key personnel who were involved in the start-up of daily deal site, GrabOne.
“Zoomy has had an incredible start, becoming one of the most popular apps in New Zealand since its launch,” says Zoomy Co-Founder and Director James Fisk. “It’s a tribute to the success of the business that it’s attracted interest from the likes of Simon and Chris.”
“Our growth plans are very aggressive and will continue to disrupt the taxi industry on a number of fronts. We believe with the additional support from investors of this calibre we will be able to fast track the achievement of these goals and continue to evolve Zoomy’s opportunities.”
This week Zoomy has launched its revolutionary, locally built mobile payment solution, which enables customers to pay for their taxi ride through the app, a first in New Zealand.
“The launch of the mobile payment solution not only creates a New Zealand first but really closes the loop with Zoomy now providing a complete service to users,” says Fisk. “It offers another level of convenience to passengers, which will result in more fares for taxi drivers signed up with Zoomy.”
The mobile payment solution allows users to securely save and store multiple credit or debit cards to their Zoomy account, negating the need for manual swiping of a customer’s credit card. The system also features an inbuilt card scanner, allowing the user to quickly scan their card details without the need for manually inputting.
“Along with providing innovative ways of reducing friction within our app, we have also ensured the mobile payment solution is of benefit to taxi drivers with a quick 48 hour payment turnaround,” says Fisk. “Technology is at the core of our business and we aim to share this with our drivers so we are also going to be providing drivers with detailed reports and analysis of their jobs to assist them in running their businesses more effectively.”
Zoomy launched in November 2013 to great success, with over 11,000 downloads in the first month. The company is currently working on expansion plans, leveraging the technology and payments platform into other markets and applications.
ENDS

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