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Irish taxi app Lynk to become a 'Riide' in push for global success

The taxi-booking app will go through a re-brand as it heads for the UK and US markets.

IRISH TAXI APP Lynk is about to push into the UK market before backing that up with a move to the US. But it may not be instantly recognisable to local users by the time it arrives there.

Instead of the familiar name seen on Dublin cabs since Lynk’s launch in February last year, the company will get a re-brand in both countries as ‘Riide’ after the intervention of some PR consultants.

“I’m not sure what the thinking is, they think Lynk is too common a name in IT circles,” CEO and founder Noel Ebbs told Fora.

The company already has around 12,500 drivers signed up to its network in the UK ahead of its launch in the market this summer, although it will be going live there around six months later than initially planned. A further Irish rollout in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway and Belfast is also underway.

Those moves will be followed with a big pitch for the US east coast, where it has 5,000 drivers signed up in Washington, New York and Boston, late this year or early in 2017, assuming all goes to plan.

However unlike its very deep-pocketed competitors in the international markets, including the famously combative Uber, Lynk is not planning to spend hundreds of millions buying up a share of the car-hailing market.

“We feel there’s another way to do this, the market is already there – it doesn’t need to be reinvented. It just needs to be updated,” Ebbs said.

Lynk Taxi App...Repro Free. Thursday 30th October 2014.  Picture Lynk founder Noel Ebbs Jason Clarke Photography Jason Clarke Photography

The competition

The company’s budget for launch in the UK will be €12.5 million over the coming year and it claims a ready-made customer network of 1 million, based on its back-end software already being installed with taxi providers.

Lynk also differs from competitors in the taxi-booking space, and both here and in the UK the big one is Hailo, in the people it targets and how it makes its money.

Rather than taking a cut of each journey booked through its app, which would come out of the individual driver’s share, Lynk charges taxi companies or drivers’ co-ops a membership or licensing fee for use of its software.

It is also focused on corporate customers with its new ‘Lynk for business’ offering, which promises extra bells and whistles like the ability to provide firms with shared taxis across disparate parts of their company networks.

So if, for example, several employees from separate departments in one large firm are unwittingly heading to the airport at similar times, Lynk’s software can cut costs by coordinate their bookings to put them in the same car, Ebbs said.

“We have a very, very simple model. The rollout is very simple – what’s allowing us to do this so cheaply is that we can roll out to existing taxi businesses that are there, but that have no way of challenging the major international apps. But now they do.”

Uber TfL Petition London Uber has been causing major headaches for taxi companies Yui Mok / PA Wire Yui Mok / PA Wire / PA Wire

The taxi-sharing feature puts Lynk in the same hunting ground as the billion-dollar apps, although with the potential cost burden of providing its service in a metered, regulated cab – rather than a cheaper private car from a provider like Uber.

However, in Europe at least, Ebbs said he doesn’t see a major threat to licensed taxi services from what he calls the ‘grey market’.

“It’s very different to the US, where it was the perfect storm for that (ridesharing) business model. We have very strong regulations here – like it or not, we’re Europeans, we like our rules and we like our boundaries. We’ve grown up in an EU environment where even the shape of a banana is regulated.”

Taxi drivers protest London cabbies protest against Uber Dominic Lipinski / PA Wire Dominic Lipinski / PA Wire / PA Wire

Back in Ireland

Meanwhile back in Ireland, Lynk has delivered 2 million trips and has a network of 2,500 taxis. That still makes it a relatively small player compared to Hailo, which said it recorded 5 million trips last year.

The company behind Lynk, Net Global Taxis, which ran the Global Taxis brand, was already profitable before the app-based service was launched, its accounts show.

While it is yet to file paperwork for the period since last February, Ebbs said he expected to make “a small profit” this year. The company is also expected to beef up its headcount, which includes 70 staff in Dublin, around 140 in the UK and smaller number in the US.

Ebbs said Lynk had enough funding to fuel its growth into the first half of next year, although after mid-2017 he expected to need a financial kick-start to keep going.

“It’s a really exciting time for us; it’s about six months late, but better late than never,” he said.

Written by Peter Bodkin and posted on Fora a new business publication for Irish startups and SMEs.

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23 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Cavanagh
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    May 24th 2016, 10:14 PM

    “I’m not sure what the thinking is”, said their CEO

    55
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    Mute bazhealy
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    May 25th 2016, 8:55 AM

    Ye wudn’t exactly fill you with confidence to invest

    10
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    Mute Barry Davidson
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    May 24th 2016, 9:50 PM

    It’s a terrible app. Estimates when you’ll get a driver then the driver charged a pick up fee. Such a crappy app.

    49
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    Mute james cullen
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    May 24th 2016, 11:19 PM

    All taxi company’s charge a pick up fee

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    Mute Paul J. Redmond
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    May 24th 2016, 11:27 PM

    Hailo don’t

    39
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    Mute Assel Dannourah
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    May 24th 2016, 9:50 PM

    I couldnt get the riide las night, so I was running a train instead

    41
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    Mute Gerry Fallon
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    May 24th 2016, 11:23 PM

    Here’s the Journal again giving free Advertising to this Taxi company. Riide? Its a shite name.and they paid top consultants to come up with this name.”eh hello, id like to book a ride please How much will that be” ?Really would sound like you’re ordering a shag! Change the name quick.

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    Mute Brian Casey
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    May 24th 2016, 11:47 PM

    Is this an advertisement? Never heard of it before, so just checked on the play store. There is a very high volume of very poor review’s. Doesn’t really come across as something that is doing so well.

    11
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    Mute Cal McLaughlin
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    May 24th 2016, 10:14 PM

    Ride is an Americanism really isn’t it.

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    Mute Fjordie
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    May 24th 2016, 10:20 PM

    ‘No riding between cars’ on the New York metro!

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    Mute Fjordie
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    May 24th 2016, 10:22 PM

    *subway*

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    Mute Barney r
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    May 25th 2016, 7:39 AM

    All i wan to do is, Ride Sally Ride…

    4
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    Mute damian
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    May 24th 2016, 11:52 PM

    Going to be difficult to break the US. Uber and Lyft are hoovering everything up. People are not using regular taxis as much. They are such a rip off that the likes of Uber are the only thing used by people.

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    Mute brian magee
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    May 24th 2016, 11:57 PM

    Break it? They just need to get 1000 likes on Facebook and they’ll be bought by an existing company for billions

    14
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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    May 25th 2016, 1:25 AM

    Yeah Uber are really dominating the market outside Ireland.
    We have too many regulations in Ireland to allow Uber to flourish. Anyone who has a car can drive for Uber in most countries.

    It’s basically illegal to offer someone a lift and charge for it in Ireland without a special PSV licence. It’s legal to charge or sex but it’s illegal to give someone a ride for money unless you’re a taxi driver.

    11
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    Mute Ned Kelly Ireland
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    May 24th 2016, 11:27 PM

    Fair play to Ebbs. The worst most thankless horrible job I’ve ever had.

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    Mute jack frost
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    May 24th 2016, 10:56 PM

    Hail a riide ?

    Yes please !

    5
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    Mute bazhealy
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    May 25th 2016, 8:58 AM

    So glaringly obvious a name change. They shud have started with that name here! I’ve seen the lynk thing on taxis but never bothered to find out what it was. If word had gotten out that after a night on the rip you cud use an app to get the riide you’re talking instant brand recognition! Worked for tinder!

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    Mute The Guru
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    May 25th 2016, 4:43 AM

    Go anywhere except Ireland and you’ll find that Uber is better, cheaper and more reliable than any other competitor. Think they’re going to struggle.

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    Mute Club Ireland
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    May 25th 2016, 11:35 AM

    Global Lynk Riide all in the headline Put more into the app as its shite really feels old and slow update it nake it bright fun and easy to use Get back to basics Noel befire you conquer the world

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    Mute Timothy McCarthy
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    May 25th 2016, 6:39 AM

    I hear Google is going into this market with waze. It’s piloting a scheme that’s is carpooling but using the app to share the fuel costs only. At the moment it’s in the west coast of USA, I think San Fran. But this will be popular.

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    Mute Classical Hackers
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    Mute Hao Chen
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    May 25th 2016, 12:09 PM

    This is a good article.

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