The announcement was made on 18 March… The Spanish VTC platform Cabify announced that it had completed a $110 million financing round. This is a mixture of debt (40 million euros from the European Investment Bank) and equity capital from Orilla Asset Management and AXIS. Uber’s main competitor in Spain and Latin America, the Madrid-based giant is now valued at $1.49bn, according to PitchBook. Cabify plans to use the money raised to significantly accelerate its growth. Here’s a closer look at the Spanish giant’s ambitions for the coming years…
Electrify 100% of its fleet of vehicles by 2030
Cabify works mainly with drivers who have their own cars. However, the company also has a 95% “eco” labelled fleet with Vector Ronda. This fleet operates in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville and Malaga. Cabify wants its journeys to be CO2-free by 2025 in Spain and by 2030 internationally. To achieve this goal, Cabify needs to supply its fleet with more electric vehicles. The EIB loan is expected to be used to deploy 1 400 electric vehicles and charging stations in Spain.
In addition to this, Cabify will launch a tender within the year to acquire vehicles and charging infrastructure. Nevertheless, the Spanish giant has already signed an agreement with Fenie Energia. An independent distributor of electricity, gas and energy efficiency solutions. The aim is to promote the installation and implementation of charging points throughout Spain. And thereby: significantly accelerate the electrification of vehicles of taxi drivers and independent drivers who use Cabify.
This commitment from strategic investors is a recognition of Cabify’s positive impact and its potential to continue to create long-term value for our investors and the cities in which we operate.
Juan de Antonio, PDG of Cabify
Tripling its revenues in just three years
With this financing, Cabify hopes to triple its revenues, and very quickly. Currently, the start-up has 42 million registered users and 1.2 million drivers in eight Spanish-speaking countries. Cabify wants to invest more than $300 million until 2024 to strengthen its presence in Latin America. The company, which operates in more than 40 cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Spain, has also said it wants to win new markets… Indeed, the company plans to expand in 25 more urban centers. To attract new drivers, it has announced, among other things, a significant reduction in the commission it charges.
To date, the latest financial data published is for 2019. Cabify’s turnover was €2.7 million at that time. Today, according to the company, it is 24% higher and therefore amounts to 3.3 million euros. However, the Spanish company does not wish to say more and does not specify whether it is profitable… What is certain is that it has chosen the right moment to announce a nice raise. Indeed, capital is hard to come by these days and we hear about Uber mainly for its layoffs and its numerous lawsuits.
