Karhoo the biggest and fastest-growing cab app in London
Cab comparison app Karhoo launched in London two months ago and already it claims to be twice the size of its nearest competitor. The company states it is giving the Capital’s consumers more choice and drivers more work.
Karhoo is at pains to point at that it is a cab comparison app rather than a cab app. This is an important distinction as it means Karhoo can bring various operators together on one online platform. In doing so they can offer passengers instant access to significant numbers of London’s professional taxi and private hire fleets.
Unlike other cab apps its also able to provide options from both the black cab trade and private-hire licensed fleets, as well as pre-booked jobs well in advance of the journey. Users of the app also have the option to select the number of seats the require for their journey.
Many of the small and medium sized taxi and private hire fleets that are signed up to Karhoo operate on regional patches. This helps spread them out more efficiently beyond the centre of the city. Drivers on other apps, it claims are often newly licenced and only drive part-time for a cab app outside of their day jobs. For these and other reasons Karhoo believes the service it offers is superior to other cab apps.
Many months were spent laying foundations with the cab industry before launching Karhoo. On the day it went live it already had fleets totalling more than 30,000 taxi and private hire vehicles signed up to its service. This figure has since increased by over 10%. To put these numbers into perspective their nearest rival in 2015 only claimed to have 15,000 drivers working in the UK’s capital and many of these were likely to be part time.
Operators that have signed up to the app have been quick to praise the impact that Karhoo has made on the market.
Before Karhoo, many of our jobs went to Uber. Now they’re coming back. Karhoo is helping the industry while others are trying to take it over.
Nadeem Khan, boss of Cascade Cars
Karhoo’s been a shot in the arm. We’ve had to open our driver recruitment centre 24/7.
Duncan Blackett, CEO of Swiss Cottage Cars – the second biggest fleet in the city.
Karhoo says confidently that it is “without doubt, the biggest cab app in London today.” Their company blog claims that in just a few weeks Karhoo has seen tens of thousands of people sign up and ride with the service. The active user base is currently expanding by more than 30 per cent each week.
No doubt buoyed by these figures Karhoo CEO, Daniel Ishag released the following statement,
London has been a phenomenal success. Fleets working with us know how much we are benefiting the industry and the figures are far ahead of anything seen before. We’re bringing on-demand cab service to four or five times the geographical area that any single operator can cover. That is what makes us unique. Now for the rest of the world.
The company has big plans. In the coming months it will be rolling out across the UK, America, Europe and Singapore. So the UK and rest of the world appears to have an app (sorry a cab comparison app) ready to challenge the might of Uber.
To Plan, their logic seems very sound. Every other market is dominated by price comparison sites. For personal insurance there is GoCompare and dozens of other providers. If you want a flights you probably check a site like SkyScanner or one of their near endless list of competitors. If anything the taxi cab and private hire apps market has been late to the aggregator party.
If you’re a driver or operator that has worked with Karhoo why not tell us about your experience? Email marketing@planinsurance.co.uk