minicabit, the UK-based online mini-cab price comparison and booking service, has secured £1.4 million in funding from some of the UK’s best known investors and business leaders.
The funding was heavily oversubscribed, led by Hambro Perks alongside the team at Oakley Capital. Hambro Perks recently backed Laundrapp, the on-demand app disrupting the dry-cleaning sector and will take a seat on minicabit’s Board, and Oakley Capital has previously advised on the flotation of JustEat and investment in The Hut Group. These high-profile investors include Rupert Hambro, one of the UK’s most respected merchant bankers, Dominic Perks, a serial entrepreneur and successful active investor Peter Dubens, founder of Oakley Capital, the leading asset management and advisory group.
Business leaders who participated include Adrian McAlpine, a Partner at Sir Robert McAlpine, one of the UK’s most well-established engineering and construction companies and the Sangster family, best known as leading thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders. In its previous funding round, minicabit attracted the backing of Telefonica O2’s Wayra Fund, crowdfunding site Seedrs, investor syndicate Angels4Angels and was also the first mobile app to win offers on BBC TV’s ‘Dragons’ Den’, from three of the Dragons.
With this fresh funding, minicabit plans to double the number of its partner cab fleets in its national cab network over the next year from 700 currently, to account for about a quarter of all cab fleets in the UK.
minicabit has developed superior price-comparison technology that compares the most competitive fixed prices from Cab Operators based near an individual’s pickup point and destination. Whilst customers can be exposed elsewhere to the unenviable risks of metered pricing that rises throughout times of peak demand, minicabit is enabling Cab firms to offer ‘flash sales’ of discounted fares on its platform throughout the week, benefiting customers and maximising utilisation of their fleets.
Amer Hasan, CEO and founder of minicabit, commented:
“Cab bookings are now shifting online at a tremendous pace, driven by customer demand and technology advances. Far from seeing this as ‘game over’ for the Cab Operators, we think the game has only just begun! Some of the earliest UK entrants were perhaps armed with more money than sense, whereas minicabit has quietly grown its cab network, industry leading partnerships and superior online features to enable customers everywhere to pre-book a great cab deal on any device.
I’m a passionate believer in ‘smart’ capital, and so this latest investment in minicabit from such a high-profile group of backers can enable us to empower Cab Operators UK-wide to take full advantage of the digital revolution.”
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