Irish Freenow taxi passengers face no immediate changes following its €175 million sale to rival Lyft, says the company’s general manager for Ireland, Danny O’Gorman.
US-based Lyft completed its take over of European-focused Freenow on Thursday creating a global business that hosts more than 300 billion individual taxi trips a-year.
Most Irish adults use Freenow’s taxi hailing app, according to the company, which does not release precise customer numbers.
Mr O’Gorman said on Thursday that they faced no immediate changes following the multinational deal, but pledged that they would see the service and mobile app improve in the months ahead.
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Meanwhile, he noted that Irish drivers could get more business from US tourists as a result.
US Lyft customers who arrive here will be prompted to download the Freenow app, which will offer them 50 per cent off their first taxi fare, Mr O’Gorman explained.
He predicted that the alliance with Lyft would lure more drivers and passengers to the Freenow app, improving reliability, which Mr O’Gorman stressed was “already very very high”.
Lyft has its own mapping technology which aids drivers in negotiating traffic, forecasting demand and likely earnings. “That will help route taxis to people quickly,” Mr O’Gorman said.
However, he cautioned that the technology would not actually increase the number of taxis operating in the Republic, which he noted had grown by 2,000 within the last few years.
Freenow employs around 30 people in the Republic in customer and driver support. Mr O’Gorman said that could increase over time.
Freenow Ireland generated a turnover of €46.1 million in 2023, which was up from €38.4 million the previous year, according to the last accounts filed by the company.
Profit for the year rose 9 per cent from €4.3 million to €4.7 million.
Freenow operates in the Republic, UK, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Poland, France, and Austria, according to a statement on Thursday.
The statement confirmed that local managers would remain in place in each country.
