Volkswagen Group makes $300M strategic investment in on-demand mobility provider Gett
25 May 2016
Volkswagen has made a US$300-million strategic investment in Gett (formerly GetTaxi), a global provider of ride-hailing services. Present in more than 60 cities worldwide, Gett is one of the faster-growing ride-hailing providers sprouting up in the mobility-on-demand area. The partnership between Volkswagen Group and Gett is based on a joint growth strategy to expand on-demand mobility services in Europe.
Innovative, digitally integrated services covering all aspects of mobility promise very strong growth momentum and earnings opportunities in the coming years. Other OEMs, such as GM with its $500M investment in Lyft, Ford with its $182-million stake in Pivotal, or Toyota with its new investment in Uber (earlier post), have begun expanding their presence in the mobility services sector sector. The Volkswagen Group says that the ride-hailing market represents the greatest market potential in on-demand mobility, while creating the technological platform for developing tomorrow‘s mobility business models.
The Volkswagen Group’s goal is to generate a substantial share of sales revenue from such new business models by 2025. To this end, the Group is opening for new partnerships and strategic investments.
Alongside our pioneering role in the automotive business, we aim to become a world leading mobility provider by 2025. Within the framework of our future Strategy 2025, the partnership with Gett marks the first milestone for the Volkswagen Group on the road to providing integrated mobility solutions that spotlight our customers and their mobility needs.
—Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG
A month ago, the Volkswagen Group announced plans to launch a legally independent company for the development of mobility services. A key partner in this area will be Gett, one of the leading providers in the European ride-hailing market with development facilities in Israel.
Gett is available in more than 60 cities worldwide, including London, Moscow and NYC. In London, half of all the black cabs use Gett. Gett’s convenient and at the same time highly efficient mobility solution is equally successful with consumers and businesses—it is already in use by more than 4,000 leading corporations worldwide. The business model is based exclusively on licensed drivers who have a permit to carry passengers and are committed to providing safe, reliable mobility.
The pay-per-ride domain is growing rapidly. In that context, Gett provides VW with the technology to expand beyond car ownership to on-demand mobility for consumers and businesses.
—Shahar Waiser, Gett’s founder and CEO
Through the Gett app consumers can, at the touch of a button, book on-demand rides instantly or pre-book rides for later. Besides transportation, Gett covers innovative delivery and logistics. Gett’s technology leverages big data, advanced predictive algorithms, and artificial intelligence. It therefore serves as the foundation for a viable on-demand autonomous car operation, the Volkswagen Group suggests.
Completion of this transaction is still subject to merger control clearance by antitrust authorities.
Matthias Müller and Shahar Waiser will be announcing further details of the strategic partnership in a joint event scheduled for the coming week.
Gett has raised more than $520 million in venture funding, and was selected by Forbes as one of the “top 15 explosively growing companies”.
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