Irish taxi software provider iCabbi gets lift from Renault

A subsidiary of French car maker Renault has taken a 75 per cent stake in iCabbi, an Irish company that specialises in cloud-based taxi dispatch services.

RCI Bank and Services, the wholly-owned financial services provider for Groupe Renault, said the investment would be used to "help deliver" further innovation for iCabbi. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

This deal has allowed early stage investors in iCabbi to exit, including AIB Seed Capital, Bloom Equity, Enterprise Ireland and NDRC. It is understood that the management team at iCabbi will continue with the business.

Founded in Dublin in 2010, iCabbi provides dispatch management software that can be used by taxi fleets and private hire operators. It operates in Ireland, the UK, the United States and Canada, powering more than 75,000 vehicles who have completed over 300 million trips using its platform.

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The software enables traditional taxi companies to compete with new entrants such as Lyft and Uber.

Commenting on the agreement, Bruno Kintzinger, chief executive of RCI Bank and Services, said: "With more than 300 million rides managed since its creation, iCabbi has very good knowledge of the market, which will help us continue to develop its business in line with Groupe Renault's objectives."

Gavan Walsh, iCabbi's co-founder and chief executive, said he was "excited to have the support to develop new services" for the taxi industry.

Mr Walsh, who grew up working in his family's business, the Irish School of Motoring, developed the idea for iCabbi in 2009 after getting lost while out walking in a remote part of Portugal. It occurred to him at the time that it would be useful to see the live location of taxis on his smartphone and book one without having to speak to someone.

Advisors to iCabbi included CapNua, William Fry, Grant Thornton and KPMG. Pre-deal funding and advice was provided by AIB Bank, BMS Finance and FinRes.