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§ Private Profile · São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mobile e-hailing app connecting users with taxis for booking and real-time tracking on iOS and Android across 30+ countries.
Easy Taxi is a mobile e-hailing application that connects riders with local taxi drivers for on-demand booking and real-time route tracking, jointly based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. Operating primarily across emerging markets, the commission-based software platform rapidly expanded its global footprint to establish a presence in over 30 countries and more than 420 cities. By the end of 2014, the service had accumulated a network of over 400,000 registered drivers and approximately 17 million individual users across Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone devices. The transportation company secured over $70 million in venture capital funding from prominent institutional backers including Rocket Internet and Cabify, ultimately driving its corporate valuation to $330 million by 2015. Easy Taxi was originally founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Tallis Gomes and Dennis Wang.
Easy Taxi has raised $62.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Easy Taxi has raised $62.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Easy Taxi has raised $62.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $40.0M Series D in July 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2014 | $40M Series D | Phenomen Ventures | HV Capital, Tengelmann Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 23, 2013 | $7M Venture Round | Imena Holdings | — | Announced |
| Jun 24, 2013 | $15M Venture Round | Rocket Internet | — | Announced |
Easy Taxi has raised $62.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Easy Taxi's investors include Phenomen Ventures, HV Capital, Tengelmann Ventures, iMENA Holdings, Rocket Internet.
Easy Taxi is a technology company that built a mobile app for hailing taxis, connecting passengers with drivers in real-time to solve urban transportation inefficiencies. It primarily served individuals and businesses seeking quick, trackable rides, addressing problems like long wait times and unreliable taxi services in emerging markets.[1][2][3] Founded in 2011 in Brazil, it expanded to over 30 countries and 420 cities, reaching 17 million users and 400,000 drivers by 2014, with $86.8 million in funding before merging with Cabify and Movo in June 2019; post-merger, it evolved into one of Latin America's largest urban mobility platforms under the Easy brand, offering services like EasyGo, EasyTaxi, EasyPlus+, and EasyPremium.[1][2][3]
Easy Taxi was founded in 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by Tallis Gomes and Daniel Cohen (with Dennis Wang later noted as a co-CEO).[1][4] The idea sparked from Gomes' frustration waiting 30 minutes for a taxi during a rainy night at a startup event in Leblon, prompting him to pivot from a bus-monitoring app idea.[1] It debuted at Startup Weekend RIO 2011, winning the event, followed by victories at Startup Farm Rio and a spot as a finalist in IBM's SmartCamp, leading to exposure at a high-tech conference with business leaders.[1]
Early traction came fast: the model charged drivers R$2 per ride, gaining 5,000 drivers and 200,000 users in the first year, boosted by angel investor Alex Tabor upon entering São Paulo.[1] Backed by Rocket Internet and others like Millicom, it raised over $77 million across rounds and expanded globally, including mergers like with Tappsi in Colombia (starting 2015) to dominate local markets.[1][2][5]
Easy Taxi rode the ride-hailing revolution in emerging markets, launching pre-Uber dominance in Latin America and Africa, where taxi inefficiencies plagued cities like Rio and Lagos.[1][6] Timing was ideal amid smartphone growth and urban migration, filling gaps in public transport with tech that aggregated existing taxis rather than owning fleets, influencing competitors like Ola and BiTaksi.[2] It shaped the ecosystem by proving scalable models in non-US markets—mergers (e.g., Tappsi in 2015, Cabify in 2019) consolidated networks, cut wait times, boosted driver rides by 40%, and expanded to 70+ LatAm cities, paving the way for multi-service mobility platforms amid regulatory pushes for safer, tech-driven transport.[2][3][5]
Post-2019 merger, Easy Taxi as Easy solidified as a LatAm mobility leader with $57M revenue and 1,681 employees, likely integrating AI for demand prediction and EV fleets amid sustainability trends.[3] Next steps include deepening multi-modal expansions (e.g., scooters, public transit ties) and corporate solutions, shaped by electrification, regulatory tailwinds, and competition from Uber/Ola.[2][3] Its influence may grow by exporting LatAm-honed models to global south markets, evolving from taxi-hailer to full ecosystem player—echoing its origin as a simple fix for rainy-night waits into a transport transformation force.[1][3]