SaferTaxi recently launched in Boston out of Harvard, is making your taxi rides safer across the globe.
The founding team, Clemens Raemy (HBS ’11), Jesus Fernandez (HBS ’11) and Christian Lechner (Wharton ’11), is supported by the HBS Rock Fellowship and the Wharton Venture Initiation Program. The trio came up with the idea in July 2009 after a dangerous taxi experience in Argentina, and honed the technology — an iPhone app — over the course of two semesters. They released their Android app earlier this month.
The base SaferTaxi app allows you to check-in to the taxi you’re riding in by entering the drivers plate number, which is immediately checked against any reported incidents and shows a history of other user ratings. After your journey is complete, you can quickly rate the driver (positive or negative) after leaving. The team is working diligently to make the application available on other mobile platforms — not to mention launch a more feature-rich and engaging SaferTaxi 2.0.
The SaferTaxi team launched their business this summer from London and Buenos Aires as a text message service, and by all accounts was well received. After just a month in Buenos Aires, the team on-boarded an eighth of the taxi force (5,000+) and landed government endorsements. And in the UK, SaferTaxi became the first company to be granted permission to advertise inside MiniCabs. The company has received $250k in sponsorship from corporations, including night clubs in both countries.
Now they’re expanding into the U.S., and according to a press release, the goal for SaferTaxi’s Boston launch is to have each of the 2,000+ licensed taxis here rated before Christmas.
“The biggest complaints in Boston are that credit card machines aren’t working, drivers are consistently on the phone, taxis are in really bad condition, and that drivers are famous for taking customers the long way,” Raemy said. He is encouraging his fellow Harvard students and others in Boston to help populate the database as they roll the service out here.
Other SaferTaxi features include activating the “DoubleSafety” option, where a user’s designated emergency contacts are notified if s/he does not confirm a safe arrival. The emergency contact is then sent the time, location and registration number of the taxi. And in case of an emergency, an “EmergencyAlert” button allows users to send this information instantly.
While manually entering a cabs number takes time, consider another perk of getting into the habit of entering your driver’s plate number into SaferTaxi: the dreaded lost cell phone. According to the company, over 12,000 laptops, iPods, thumb drives, wallets, and other valuables are left in taxis every year in Boston alone.
What’s next for SaferTaxi on the development side? In the next few months not only expect a Blackberry application, expect SaferTaxi 2.0. This 2.0 version will allow users to book taxis and even collect membership points for each rating they make — think frequent flyer miles for the taxi industry.
SaferTaxi has amassed a solid group of advisors, including Jeffrey Bussgang from Flybridge Capital and Jason Diaz, Wharton graduate and founder & CEO of another taxi business in the payments space called TaxiPass.
Download the SaferTaxi Phone app here. To learn more about SaferTaxi, visit their blog and website, and follow their development on Facebook.
