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HBD Taxis Into New Public Transport Venture
Cape Town, September 21, 2007: In the first in a string of new deal announcements, HBD Venture Capital said today it invested R10-million in SA Cab – a local metered taxi operator which boasts the most sophisticated call centre technology in the industry. SA Cab plans to spend the money growing its current operation into South Africa’s first truly world-class national metered taxi network.
Eben van Heerden, portfolio manager at HBD Venture Capital – South Africa’s leading venture capital firm – said that SA Cab was a local entrepreneurial company with enormous growth potential. “With South Africa’s city roads becoming increasingly congested, World Cup 2010 set to attract floods of visitors and government spending R28-billion on public transport projects such as the Gautrain, there is a growing demand for a safe, efficient alternative to private cars. SA Cab is in the perfect position to meet this demand and provide a solution for business commuters and tourists alike.”
He said that SA Cab operates a number of its own cabs so it understands the industry. “But the true jewel in its crown is its call centre which can, for the first time in SA, connect taxi operators throughout the country via a tollfree number and GPS tracking. The scalability of the call centre model also made it a highly attractive investment for us because it means that SA Cab can grow its capacity to 45,000 calls a month with minimal further costs.”
Craig Robinson, CEO of SA Cab, explains what makes the company’s call centre technology so effective. “Before we installed it, we conducted extensive research in the UK and USA and chose a solution that could be tailored for the local market. Independent taxi operators pay a subscription fee to SA Cab, and become linked, via GPRS, to the call centre. Once a call is logged, the closest cab is located via GPS and immediately dispatched. This eliminates the need for a client to use different cab operators throughout the country and also limits the risk of being left stranded if an operator has no cars in the vicinity.
Van Heerden said that only taxis of a very high standard were added to the SA Cab network. “With the number of questionable metered taxis on the roads, one of our first questions was how SA Cab guarantees the quality of the cabs in its network. We found that incredibly strict screening processes are built into the call centre technology. Each day, when the GPRS is switched on in a taxi, a number of details are checked including whether the driver’s license is valid and whether personal insurance is fully paid. All cars must obtain a new roadworthy certificate and be registered in terms of public transport requirements. If any requirements are not met the taxi is no longer able to operate in the SA Cab network.”
The SA Cab investment was made from HBD Fund2 - the firm’s second VC fund - which targets early stage ventures that have been generating revenue for at least six months. Van Heerden said that HBD expected to make at least two more new deal announcements within the next six months. Visit www.sacab.co.za for more information.
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