About the company
TaxiBit was founded in Michoacán, Mexico in 2015. Before TaxiBit, ordering a taxi in Mexico was a long and complicated process: the customer had to call the operator and wait for the response not knowing when the car will arrive.
In just two years, shortly after the company had switched to Onde’s software solution, TaxiBit became the only serious local competitor to Uber. At the moment, it’s the fastest-growing ride-hailing platform in Central America.
The challenge
TaxiBit and Onde didn’t meet straight away. At first, the company's founder approached an outsourcing company to create Android apps from scratch. While the apps were being finalized, TaxiBit started hiring taxi drivers and promoting the brand in the media. The company very quickly received its first 1000 downloads and officially employed 20 taxi drivers. However, the apps developed by the outsourcing company turned out to be faulty, which meant that available drivers weren’t getting the orders in time. That was when the managers of TaxiBit decided to change the strategy and look for a ready-made solution.
Switching to the Onde solution
After a long search, TaxiBit discovered the SaaS ride-hailing platform that is Onde. At the very beginning of 2017 branded TaxiBit apps were ready.
The company had to re-register the users from the previous apps to the new apps run by Onde. TaxiBit sent out emails to their users and launched an ad campaign on social networks. On January 19th, 2017, the first successful order was completed, which showed an excellent user experience. Shortly afterward, TaxiBit became the only serious competitor to Uber and other ride-hailing platforms entering the local market.
Covid-19: new challenges
The pandemic was an unexpected and unprecedented challenge to TaxiBit. However, the company used the situation for growth and reorganization. COVID-19 launched a new era in the development of the company: new people were introduced to top management and the company started its expansion within Central America. In 2021, TaxiBit expanded to Costa Rica, starting with San José and then switching to Limon. In half a year the market grew twice in size and Taxibit started creating strategic commercial alliances with many businesses and the Chamber of Commerce in the Caribbean area.
The results
At the moment, TaxiBit has thousands of active drivers and thousands of passengers. TaxiBit is globally recognized as the fastest-growing ride-hailing platform in Central America.
The company plans to expand to Guatemala, Panama, and El Salvador. The end goal is to become the number one taxi in the entire Latin American region.
Key points of success:
- Use a ready-made software solution;
- Commit to drivers: make sure drivers are listened to and their requests are taken into account;
- Start in smaller cities that are easier to control instead of the capital cities;
- Prioritize market research and use a strategic approach to advertising.
